Spring Holiday

[SkiBee]

Hi all, would be grateful for advice. I am going away from March 4th till April 18th and wondering how to prepare my hives. Currently three colonies, active and bringing in pollen. On National hives, single broodbox and super on top (slight new beek mix up in autumn then didn't want to disturb!) Fed them around 1kg of fondant today on top of hole in crown board. Also stuck QE on crown board to stop queen going into eke. Planning to check in one week to see if they've taken fondant all down. Should I put super with drawn frame on before I go or risk them being overcrowded by the time I get back? They were all moderately strong colonies last year when I took off my first lot of honey.
Cheers
Skibee
PS I love this forum but am normally too shy to post. X

 

[drstitson]

how did you keep them last year - brood and half?

if so an extra super on top of a QE before you go should keep things sweet if OSR flowers well early otherwise might be fine just left as is.

do you have NO local contact who could keep an eye 4U???

 

[SkiBee]

how did you keep them last year - brood and half?

if so an extra super on top of a QE before you go should keep things sweet if OSR flowers well early otherwise might be fine just left as is.

do you have NO local contact who could keep an eye 4U???

Last year was first year and kept them just single brood. Might be able to get someone to check for me, when would be best? And are they checking mainly for space and swarming?
Thanks dr

 

[drstitson]

if you look at other recent threads you will see when it is recommended to add supers (wrt number of frames of bees/brood).

were they a nuc or complete 10 frame colony when you got them last year?

 

[oliver90owner]

This is a piece of string question!

If they are a brood and a half there should be enough stores for your winter and also enough for a good spring start. They should be alright until the middle of April, but could be on their way, by then, in your climate! Who knows.

I would suggest you lose your shyness and find a local beek to keep an eye on them, should the weather be just too favourable, and add the extra super when more appropriate.

With almost 3 weeks to go, a decision now would likely be a guess and nothing more. If you do your spring clean before you leave, you may find them needing more than a single super by the time you return!

The eke will need removing or you may come home to a full roof of honey.

Regards, RAB

 

[SkiBee]

Actually they were all swarms, one a tiny one from the previous August (2009, 2 frames of bees) Everyone said just unite with another colony but I was a reckless newbeek and decided to give them a chance in a nuc box and they came through last winter(2009/10) and became my best colony last year. So much so that I did end up splitting it with an artificial swarm which gave me two of my three colonies. (Thanks Devon Bee Inspector who assisted!). The other was a good prime swarm last June. Sorry that's probably too much information.
As for previous posts yes I read last summer some experienced beeks say they always have supers on by April, which is why I was just wondering. Mine weren't at this stage last year.
Thanks

 

[SkiBee]

This is a piece of string question!

If they are a brood and a half there should be enough stores for your winter and also enough for a good spring start. They should be alright until the middle of April, but could be on their way, by then, in your climate! Who knows.

I would suggest you lose your shyness and find a local beek to keep an eye on them, should the weather be just too favourable, and add the extra super when more appropriate.

With almost 3 weeks to go, a decision now would likely be a guess and nothing more. If you do your spring clean before you leave, you may find them needing more than a single super by the time you return!

The eke will need removing or you may come home to a full roof of honey.

Regards, RAB

Sounds messy! Thanks for your reply. Loving your posts.

 

[Vergilius]

The eke will need removing or you may come home to a full roof of honey.

I agree. This happened to us last season... Really hard, sticky, hot, messy work removing (and extracting) the brace comb... And not to mention loads of squashed and angry bees... Thank God it wasn't the aggressive ones!!!


Ben P

 

[Hombre]

If you have any insulation over the eke, you could add a super, much better with a percentage of drawn comb if you have it and leave insulation on the top to minimise the loss of heat from the super. Alternatively you could put a couple of pieces of insulation in the super, so that there are only five or six frames in the centre, best of both worlds perhaps.

I'll leave you to figure how to protect polystyrene from naughty bees.