Winter Pre enquiry

[SWEET]

Depends on the type of spring and what is going on in the hive. April would be a sort of average...Late March if the weathers is set fair.

Thanks , gives me something to ponder .

 

[Beefriendly]

If its any help the bees seem to survive whichever way round you do it. I think many simply dislike brood in supers, which is understandable.

 

[SWEET]

If i decide to stick the super under the BB , when is the latest this could be done? , assume end Sept ( after feeding ) or now so the move some of the uncapped stores into the empty brood cells?

 

[colinc]

If i decide to stick the super under the BB , when is the latest this could be done? , assume end Sept ( after feeding ) or now so the move some of the uncapped stores into the empty brood cells?

If you have taken all the surplus then sooner the better. Bees want honey over and around the brood nest so if you move it before the frosts they have time to redistribute what they have. If you wait the brood nest producing your winter bees may be Half and half on brood and super frames once the QE is removed, so you split the nest (and the warmth) when you move it, you may lose some brood as a result. I flipped mine after extracting the supers then removed the supers that had been nadired when the bees had emptied them 1-2 weeks later.


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[Beefriendly]

If i decide to stick the super under the BB , when is the latest this could be done? , assume end Sept ( after feeding ) or now so the move some of the uncapped stores into the empty brood cells?

No, do it before any feeding. But if they have a super full of stores just stick it on top of the brood box. Why force them to waste their time and energy having to re-arrange it all?

 

[REDWOOD]

If a super is full of stores and capped then extract it and feed your bees sugar syrup, a colony will reduce from now on to a football size cluster which leaves plenty of room in the BB for stores. A slab of insulation under the roof will keep the hive warmer and reduce the consumption of stores, it will also stop condensation falling on to your bees which is deadly.

How much feed does your bees need ? a final inspection before shutting them up for winter and heft your hive will give you a good indication on how much to feed.
Mouse guards can be fitted if you have wide entrances

 

[SWEET]

Thanks both and very helpful .

BF - Regards moving the stores ( which is mainly ambrosia i’ve fed and uncapped with plenty of feeding to go ) i thought this would give them something to do while raining and a fast process for the bees , i think i’ll check again the weekend and what state these super stores are in and may well simply leave it in place this winter ( QE removed ) , going forward i’ll go with a deep brood frame and no super next year , the replacing of the QE come spring and moving the queen sounds simple enough , not too fussed about brood in super as honey has antibacterial properties ( I’ve read ) .

RED - Thanks for the info , this is my first hive and only setup start July ( with a Nuc purchased from BS ) , i extracted around 10 lb from the super a few weeks back ( very happy ) and placed it back on the hive for the bees to clean and also ponder/read about the next move ( also wanted the bees to have extra space as seemed rammed in the BB ) , seeing as the stores in the BB were low i started to feed them ambrosia as concerned they lacked food ( and the weather had turned ) and also start the final feed for the winter . At the same time i’ve been treating the hive with Apiguard and now on the second tray placed on the brood frames , the mite drop is low ( currently ) . I also fashioned a *porch* to stop wasps entering the hive and reduced the entrance , this has worked well .

Interesting regards condensation , the hive is a national with gabled roof with OM floor ( currently closed for the Apiguard treatment ) the crown board has two open vents , i was going to close these and leave the OM floor open for winter with no additional insulation but i guess you want the condensation on the sides of the hive rather than roof so i’ll do that , again thanks for the help .

 

[Poly Hive]

Couple of points one of which obviously I failed to make clear.

With an open mesh floor there is meant to be insulation above the crown board. This is what the experiments showed gave the best results.

Winter feeding. Don't go totally mad as it is very useful to give a couple of sheets of foundation in the middle of the brood box which under the stymulus of the feeding they will draw out and brood up giving a nice flush of young bees for the winter.

Also use a luggage scale, cost of what £5 and learn to judge by lifting the back of the hive up as to what the weight is. Heft it manually and think hmm 30 odd pounds then do it again with the scale and get a proper reading and so learn to judge it.

There is a danger of over feeding. Just another thing to be aware of.

PH

 

[SWEET]

Thanks PH , sounds like fine line regards feeding and something i'll keep an eye on.

 

[SWEET]

The bees were out in large numbers yesterday so they have survived well so far , also means the acid treatment i dripped over them a few weeks ago never wiped them out , first time they attacked me tho!

 

[Popparand]

Well done Daboss! I too started with a nuc early July but too late in the year to take any honey off. Bees have started to fly but not in large numbers. Daytime temperatures here going up and down like a yo-yo, and the wind doesn't help. Looking forward to some warm and settled weather so I can have a look and see what's going on in the hive.

 

[enrico]

Thanks for the update. Always nice to know how things turn out.
E

 

[Beagle23]

The bees were out in large numbers yesterday so they have survived well so far , also means the acid treatment i dripped over them a few weeks ago never wiped them out , first time they attacked me tho!

Quite a thing coming out of your first winter and seeing your bees healthy and ready to go, I remember it fondly. And then you start reading about queen cells...and swarms.......

 

[Eyeman]

Quite a thing coming out of your first winter and seeing your bees healthy and ready to go, I remember it fondly. And then you start reading about queen cells...and swarms.......

Sorry to worry you but it's called spring dwindling. The old bees gradually die off so they still 'look good' in January.
You know they have survived the winter when you do your first inspection around middle of March/April and see them building up again. Keep a eye of stores by hefting/weighing and leave them alone till then.

 

[Poly Hive]

If you can visualize a graph with one line going left to right downwards which is the old codgers dying off and another line going from zero heading up from right to left which is the queens egg laying rate.

The crossover point is when all is well and the colony is taking off as the death rate is less than the hatching rate.

If that crossover fails to happen due to the queen being a dud then..... they die off.

PH

 

[Millet]

Sorry to worry you but it's called spring dwindling. The old bees gradually die off so they still 'look good' in January.
You know they have survived the winter when you do your first inspection around middle of March/April and see them building up again. Keep a eye of stores by hefting/weighing and leave them alone till then.

I have new young bees in my hive that done orientation flights yesterday.

 

[Eyeman]

I have new young bees in my hive that done orientation flights yesterday.

Sounds hopeful!
At the first spring inspection I've seen small clusters of bees, a queen and a small patch of worker brood- usually eggs/ young larvae. The workers had clearly dwindled and were unable to take care of the brood. Records showed that that colony was active during warm spells in Jan & Feb.
So I don't count my winter survivals until that first spring inspection.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have new young bees in my hive that done orientation flights yesterday.

Just remember - all bees regardless of age orientate after even a few days confinement. In fact, some studies have shown that even in summer each bee does a quick orientation flight before setting off foraging/scouting

 

[Millet]

Just remember - all bees regardless of age orientate after even a few days confinement. In fact, some studies have shown that even in summer each bee does a quick orientation flight before setting off foraging/scouting

I thought about the pensioners re orientating but the amount of bees in the sky makes me wonder, as does the wax capping's on the inspection tray, either way, if yee and thee have nice strong colonies come September we have done something right.

 

[Curly green fingers]

I thought about the pensioners re orientating but the amount of bees in the sky makes me wonder, as does the wax capping's on the inspection tray, either way, if yee and thee have nice strong colonies come September we have done something right.

I thought younger bees were genarelly smaller and hairier than older bees.When i put fondant on mine there was bees covering 5 frames. In the autumn there was 8 frames covered so ive not done so bad. couldn't the wax capping's all so be from stores being uncapped how could you tell the differents?.

bonum diem habeas! have a nice day!

mark.