Things to be doing this time of year?

[GJUK]

Hi,

I have two hives, both fairly well established and produced a lot of honey this year. Both hives have 2-3 full frames of honey left in their supers.

What exactly should I be doing this time of the year, in order to give them the best shot over winter?

I've bought some straps for the hives, in case the wind gets up high.

Should I be treating these hives for mites, adding food, cleaning out dead bees etc?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Cussword]

Simply put, yes yes, and yes.

 

[thenovice]

Hi GJUK,

before anyone slags you off and tells get a mentor and follow course, follow the thread, what I did in my apiary today. should give you a general gist of what other beekeepers are doing right now. Keep in mind, each area differs slightly in timing.

if your flow is over, take off capped honey. check varroa drop. treat with apivar. then feed them untill there is enough to get them through winter (20kg is a minimum for a normal colony). take off any queen excluders and Nadir supers so they are empty by spring. when it gets colder, put on mouse guards and protect against woodpeckers. batten down the hives against storms. when cold over a period of time, oxalic acid treatment. heft hive regularly to check for stores and feed fondant if needed.

I never bother cleaning floors etc. bees do that very well.

in a nutshell

 

[Hivemaker.]

treat with apivar.

Just to add for the OP, these are Amitraz based treatment strips, available, or were, from a couple of places in the UK one in Scotland and another in Devon.

 

[GJUK]

I've done 3 days training, it was covered but im asking also as this is a forum.

I was going to leave some honey on but it seems there is no point, I'll take the rest off later this weekend.

Take the supers off? so they do not have them on the hives at all?

mite count - I know how to do this with white paper.

apivar - cool I'll buy some.

Thanks!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Re taking honey off. How much is there in the brood box?
Mite count with an insert is inaccurate. Do a sugar roll ( lots on Google) or just treat.....ducks

 

[GJUK]

There are probably all frames with a good corner of honey stored. + what is in the super

 

[Erichalfbee]

You need 40lb of stores. That's about 7/8 frames worth.
Get the super stores into the brood box. Some people put the super over the crown board with a reduced feeder hole and the bees rob it down. That never works for me but putting it under the brood box always does.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

apivar - cool I'll buy some.

read a little more on this - you'd probably be better using Apiguard or apilife - var, the thymol based products

 

[GJUK]

You need 40lb of stores. That's about 7/8 frames worth.
Get the super stores into the brood box. Some people put the super over the crown board with a reduced feeder hole and the bees rob it down. That never works for me but putting it under the brood box always does.

Hi,

is that 7/8th of a single Frame, or 7 to 8 full frames?!

Can I not just take all the honey off an feed my bees with fondant?

 

[enrico]

8 full frames, you can take the honey off but then you need to feed 2:1 sugar water solution until the brood box is so heavy you can't lift it.
E

 

[GJUK]

Wow, so they know winter is coming and really fill the 'brood' area with stores over the winter? Rather than eggs ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

yes, before long the queen will slack off laying and the bees will backfill the nest with stores.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Wow, so they know winter is coming and really fill the 'brood' area with stores over the winter? Rather than eggs ?

But of course. They have to survive

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi,

is that 7/8th of a single Frame, or 7 to 8 full frames?!

Can I not just take all the honey off an feed my bees with fondant?

You could. Then I could come along empty your larder and fridge and leave you with bread and water.
Just be sensible. Leave them a decent amount of their own honey. I leave all the stuff that's uncapped. Usually.

 

[user 6228]

Note: all of the above assumes wooden hives without insulation...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

bees in insulated hives don't need any winter stores - they can live on fresh air.

 

[sbisme]

bees in insulated hives don't need any winter stores - they can live on fresh air.

hahahah JBM

 

[GJUK]

bees in insulated hives don't need any winter stores - they can live on fresh air.

wow, so I'm going to take all the honey and frames out then in that case, thanks for the help.

 

[Cussword]

bees in insulated hives don't need any winter stores - they can live on fresh air.

wow, so I'm going to take all the honey and frames out then in that case, thanks for the help.

Oh dear.