When would be your final inspection of the year!

[fiat500bee]

What I'm really needing guidance on is roughly by when I should have examined the hive and given it the final frame/box configuration for winter. I'm aware that type of bee, particular colony, weather and location will influence this.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I check mine when supers come off and after treatment and don’t look in again properly till April usually

 

[drex]

Same as Dani. Harvest, treat, feed if needed, check stores and that's it. After all that, there is no longer any reason to inspect, so I don't

 

[Speybee]

Same as above except I wait for the currant ( non fruiting) bushes to be in flower. It’s got the pink clumps of flowers.

 

[Rhyolite]

I check mine when supers come off and after treatment and don’t look in again properly till April usually

When will you aim to have finished your final treatment of the year roughly?

 

[Erichalfbee]

When will you aim to have finished your final treatment of the year roughly?

I’m starting today and doing three or four vapes at five day intervals so will be finished in a fortnight.

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Final super to come off this weekend, then vape treatment and feeding as required.
Should be done and dusted before the end of the month.

 

[Niv]

As Dani but use different treatment. I put the second apiguard on next weekend (i.e. not tomorrow) so when that is removed will be the last time i disturb them other than hefting and checking feed level (which doesn't disturb them).

 

[madasafish]

Not done any full inspections of any hives since early August. Intend to do no more - apart from two small nucs and mini nucs..

Apiguard - next application next week.

Winter configurations already setup.

Will start weighing and feeding after treatments - end September

Christmas vaping.

Next full inspection ? March/April dependent on weather.

 

[fiat500bee]

Winter configurations already setup.

That's the bit that puzzles me slightly. I don't want to presume that the bees won't need more or less room for winter than they have at the moment. They have a generous amount just now and were using it last time I looked. I think I'll dive in next week and with an opimal layout in mind based on some excellent suggestions on this forum, see if I can work them into it without too much upheaval....then leave alone.

 

[Levitt53]

I'm planning to put clearer boards on frames to extract tomorrow. At the same time I'll nadir the odd bits, put feeders on the smaller hives. Then on Tuesday I'll extract the honey and put the crown boards back on and leave them be (except top up the feeders and finally remove when I am happy with their weight). I've seen a few bees on the ivy now and that's usually my sign. I don't treat mine which makes it all a lot more simple.

 

[pargyle]

I'm planning to put clearer boards on frames to extract tomorrow. At the same time I'll nadir the odd bits, put feeders on the smaller hives. Then on Tuesday I'll extract the honey and put the crown boards back on and leave them be (except top up the feeders and finally remove when I am happy with their weight). I've seen a few bees on the ivy now and that's usually my sign. I don't treat mine which makes it all a lot more simple.

Pretty much as I will be doing - probably later on this week. The Ivy in my garden is about two weeks away from blooming so I usually take the supers off a bit before that and they get all the ivy honey for winter with a top up of invert. I won't be going back in then until at least March - the clear crownboards and landing boards will tell me anything I really need to know before that.

 

[Speybee]

I put in clearer boards yesterday, with intention of taking 2 hives back from the Heather to my home apiary.
Clearer boards put into hives in the home apiary.
Remove honey boxes.

I will let them settle before final inspections to see what what I am over wintering.

Dummy boards to be inserted with insulation between them and outer wall of hive.
Then varroa treatment once my Apivar strips arrive from the vet.

At end of month rolled out Ambrosia, over the top area of the brood nest, crown board,insulation, roof.

That’s the plan anyway, unless better ideas come to mind.

 

[beeno]

That's the bit that puzzles me slightly. I don't want to presume that the bees won't need more or less room for winter than they have at the moment. They have a generous amount just now and were using it last time I looked. I think I'll dive in next week and with an opimal layout in mind based on some excellent suggestions on this forum, see if I can work them into it without too much upheaval....then leave alone.

Your bees will need less room for winter and that is a fact. Colonies go from 40-60,000 at the height of summer to 10-12,000 in February. It is bad to have too much space in the hive in winter as unoccupied frames will attract wax moth and go mouldy. I try my level best to get every colony into single brood some on 12x14 and some on standard national. You may have to go brood and a half or dummy a hive down, but only you can judge the size of your colonies and they will not all be the same. So, take off honey supers. You may have to feed a couple of kg before treatment if they are short of stores, then treat, then feed in ernest to get 40lb in the brood box. My last inspection is as soon as I can confirm that the queen is laying again after treatment, I have caught a couple of drone layers that way, which enabled me to do a late unite with spare nucs rather than dealing with a drone filled colony in spring. Do bear in mind when feeding, it is not how much you are feeding, but how heavy the hive is. You need to learn to heft. I use the method one member of the forum stated which works for me, lift each side of the hive individually with one finger, then two fingers and then three fingers. When you cannot lift it with three fingers then they have got enough. Others use luggage scales. Get going as you are in the north! Good luck - it is a daunting experience when you first start off.

 

[fiat500bee]

Your bees will need less room for winter and that is a fact. I try my level best to get every colony into single brood some on 12x14 and some on standard national. You may have to go brood and a half or dummy a hive down, but only you can judge the size of your colonies and they will not all be the same. So, take off honey supers. You may have to feed a couple of kg before treatment if they are short of stores, then treat, then feed in ernest to get 40lb in the brood box. Good luck - it is a daunting experience when you first start off.

Thank-you for some useful facts. I'm definitely making it hard for myself as I want to avoid sugar from now on and I've let them loose on double brood and they seem to have something going on in every frame. I also want to leave them the super as in any case it's going to consist of 90% sugar from earlier feeding when they arrived in a fit-to burst nuc and I wanted them to draw frames......they didn't half draw frames!!!. I'll maybe squeeze them into one deep and leave the shallow stores or reduce to seven or eight frames each in two deeps.

We do have lots of ivy to come and although in north of Scotland we're in a dry, sunny area.

 

[beeno]

Thank-you for some useful facts. I'm definitely making it hard for myself as I want to avoid sugar from now on and I've let them loose on double brood and they seem to have something going on in every frame. I also want to leave them the super as in any case it's going to consist of 90% sugar from earlier feeding when they arrived in a fit-to burst nuc and I wanted them to draw frames......they didn't half draw frames!!!. I'll maybe squeeze them into one deep and leave the shallow stores or reduce to seven or eight frames each in two deeps.

We do have lots of ivy to come and although in north of Scotland we're in a dry, sunny area.

Any midges?

 

[fiat500bee]

Any midges?

.....maybe two evenings a year....windy almost every day but it doesn't seem to bother the bees; they were out in halfway to gale force today, how could you not be in awe of them.?!?!? ♥

 

[Speybee]

Your bees will need less room for winter and that is a fact. Colonies go from 40-60,000 at the height of summer to 10-12,000 in February. It is bad to have too much space in the hive in winter as unoccupied frames will attract wax moth and go mouldy. I try my level best to get every colony into single brood some on 12x14 and some on standard national. You may have to go brood and a half or dummy a hive down, but only you can judge the size of your colonies and they will not all be the same. So, take off honey supers. You may have to feed a couple of kg before treatment if they are short of stores, then treat, then feed in ernest to get 40lb in the brood box. My last inspection is as soon as I can confirm that the queen is laying again after treatment, I have caught a couple of drone layers that way, which enabled me to do a late unite with spare nucs rather than dealing with a drone filled colony in spring. Do bear in mind when feeding, it is not how much you are feeding, but how heavy the hive is. You need to learn to heft. I use the method one member of the forum stated which works for me, lift each side of the hive individually with one finger, then two fingers and then three fingers. When you cannot lift it with three fingers then they have got enough. Others use luggage scales. Get going as you are in the north! Good luck - it is a daunting experience when you first start off.

That is a better idea!

 

[thedozzer]

We have put reduced entrances one and taken all the supers of Sunday 6th of Sept, as the temps are changing and we wanted to get Varoa treatment on, last full inspection was 2 weeks ago, to make sure both the Q's were Ok and there was BIAS.

They are 12x14 poly so as long as we give each hive roughly 10-15ltrs of thymolised syrup each they will be good till spring. we will only open them up to remove the Apivar strips, about 6 weeks time (remember to make sure feeders are empty, so you dont coat your bee trousers in syrup!!) and feed through the miller feeders, wont go into the hive until Feb/March time next year.
and checking our records, we have done the same on the 7th or 8th of September for the last 3 years! but not intensionally. just sort of happened.