Weight of my DB hives

[fullframe45]

Just a quick question from a novice. i have five poly hives all DB all have OMFs and inspection trays always left in and extra poly insulation in winter .
I weigh them every two /three weeks and since october the weight has only fluctuated very slightly. I weighed them yesterday while vaping and the average weight is between 60/70 LBS for each hive.
Is this a good weight at this time or should i put fondant on for them. Thank you.

 

[user 819]

No more food is needed. In fact it is likely some will be removed came spring, if they have been artificially fed one won't want the spring nectar compromised.

 

[Finman]

Let the bees stay alone. Do not disturb them with weighing. It does not help them.

 

[fullframe45]

Thank you ,i will leave as it is.

 

[user 819]

Thank you ,i will leave as it is.

40lbs of stores is often more then adequate for winter and can vary, some with a lesser amount of 25lbs. End of the day it is easier to remove stores in spring then fret over them by disturbing unnecessarily over winter.

 

[drex]

As implied, for polys, they are more than a good weight. Some of my wooden are coming in at that

 

[Curly green finger's]

As implied, for polys, they are more than a good weight. Some of my wooden are coming in at that

Same here some of my cedar are that weight.

 

[Jules59]

Just a quick question from a novice. i have five poly hives all DB all have OMFs and inspection trays always left in and extra poly insulation in winter .
I weigh them every two /three weeks and since october the weight has only fluctuated very slightly. I weighed them yesterday while vaping and the average weight is between 60/70 LBS for each hive.
Is this a good weight at this time or should i put fondant on for them. Thank you.

The absolute weight is not really that important as it is affected by several factors; type of hive, hive construction materials, number of boxes, additional feed etc. It is the change in weight that counts. My three WBC hives have lost an average of 6kg since October.

 

[Jules59]

correction - an average of 5 kg

 

[Michael Palmer]

Interesting graph. I notice hives 1 and 3 had a spike in weight in October. Then 1 and 4 spiked on about 12/December.
Interestingly, hive 3 had a weight spike about the middle of January. Any ideas? The October spike could be Ivy I guess. What of the December and January spikes. Of course impossible here as our flows are done by October and a flow would be quite a miracle here in mid-winter.

 

[rolande]

Interesting graph. I notice hives 1 and 3 had a spike in weight in October. Then 1 and 4 spiked on about 12/December.
Interestingly, hive 3 had a weight spike about the middle of January. Any ideas? The October spike could be Ivy I guess. What of the December and January spikes. Of course impossible here as our flows are done by October and a flow would be quite a miracle here in mid-winter.

I'd have thought that a midwinter flow in Warwickshire would be an equal miracle.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Water collected on a mild day?

 

[Sutty]

Robbing?

 

[Ian123]

A cat on the roof!!!

 

[Jules59]

No cat haha
Its generally been a very mild winter with only one week of sub-zero daytime temperatures in Jan, no snow and only a couple of additional frosty mornings. Feb has seen seen temps 10C above average.
I dont really have an explanation for the Dec peaks. Weighing was carried using an electronic scale in the same way for all hives. I did wonder about water but its a lot of water.

Fondant wasnt added until Feb.

 

[Newbeeneil]

No cat haha
Its generally been a very mild winter with only one week of sub-zero daytime temperatures in Jan, no snow and only a couple of additional frosty mornings. Feb has seen seen temps 10C above average.
I dont really have an explanation for the Dec peaks. Weighing was carried using an electronic scale in the same way for all hives. I did wonder about water but its a lot of water.

Fondant wasnt added until Feb.

I believe that bees don’t actually “store” water that they collect so wouldn’t account for the peak.

 

[rdartington]

No cat haha
Its generally been a very mild winter with only one week of sub-zero daytime temperatures in Jan, no snow and only a couple of additional frosty mornings. Feb has seen seen temps 10C above average.
I dont really have an explanation for the Dec peaks. Weighing was carried using an electronic scale in the same way for all hives. I did wonder about water but its a lot of water.

Fondant wasnt added until Feb.

Can you tell us more about the electronic scales - and graph drawing? I have tried bathroom electronic scales and had to give up - they could not settle consistently. So now using mechanical scales that only read to one lb.

 

[rdartington]

No cat haha
Its generally been a very mild winter with only one week of sub-zero daytime temperatures in Jan, no snow and only a couple of additional frosty mornings. Feb has seen seen temps 10C above average.
I dont really have an explanation for the Dec peaks. Weighing was carried using an electronic scale in the same way for all hives. I did wonder about water but its a lot of water.

Fondant wasnt added until Feb.

Don’t the mid-winter spikes have to be robbing? I have lost 50% of hives, in Jan, worst losses ever. Other bprs here have has losses. How have your neighbours fared?

 

[Michael Palmer]

Don’t the mid-winter spikes have to be robbing? I have lost 50% of hives, in Jan, worst losses ever. Other bprs here have has losses. How have your neighbours fared?

Losses from what Robin? Colony has to be weak to get robbed. Our varroa/virus problem is getting worse every year. Was that it?

 

[Jules59]

Can you tell us more about the electronic scales - and graph drawing? I have tried bathroom electronic scales and had to give up - they could not settle consistently. So now using mechanical scales that only read to one lb.

Its nothing special - just some battery operated scales (the sort you might weigh travel cases with) with a hook on the end of a length of welding rod. The scales are attached to a lever supported on a timber post. When I press down on the lever the scales pull up in the hive until two legs are just off the ground WBC hives with own legs) . Record the weight. Repeat from the other side of the hive and add both weights together. Input the weights from each hive into a spreadsheet (Libre Office) and calculate the change in weight at each weigh-in. Graph function plots change of weight against date.
I will post a pic of my setup when Im next home (End of March).
It will be interesting to see what the weights are upon my return.