Wintering bees in the U.K.

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Erichalfbee

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Could I have comments from our experienced beekeepers ( beginners do join in if you have questions) so that I can put this thread in the stickies.
 
Winter preparations should start in late September/early October when Varroa treatments should be well underway if not (in the case Apiguard) nearing completion. I feed during treatment so that I can top up feeders and treat in one visit.
the beginning of treatment should also signal an end to inspections and if any supers are being left on the hive, removal of queen excluders.
Nadiring of any shallows should be reserved for supers that are only part filled with unripe/uncapped honey and again be done in good time when the weather is still good to give the bees the opportunity to move any stores up above or behind the cluster.
I like my shallows to be nadired before I start feeding and before the ivy flow starts so that, if there's a good flow on the bees can migrate into the nadir to allow room for honey ripening.
When winter feeding, I don't faff around with feeding in dribs and drabs - piling a gallon or two of heavy syrup will encourage the bees to take it down quick and store it.
I've found that bees in a single brood national hive, if well fed and hunkered down with top insulation won't need any fiddling about until well into spring, in fact, most years I end up removing frames of stores in the spring to allow room for brood expansion, and that goes for nucs as well.
I'm just finishing the rounds taking feeders off the hives (I would have finished this morning if it wasn't for the weather) and won't be going near the hives until next spring unless I feel the urge to do a midwinter vape later on. I can't remember when I last had a panic attack and put fondant on the hives late winter.
 
Bill Bielby (a great Yorkshire beekeeper) said in his book 'Home Honey Production' in 1972 :

"the best way to overwinter bees is to make the hives as draught free as possible'. He also said 'there is no such thing as too much insulation'.

Regardless of any other considerations for ensuring your bees over winter successfully look at your hive set up - insulation above the crownboard, no leaky holes in the crownboard, a skirt around the open mesh floors or solid floors or an under floor entrance will help the bees maintain the hive temperature with the least expenditure of calories.

Thin timber hives in cold locations will benefit from a PIR hive cosy.
 
Could I have comments from our experienced beekeepers ( beginners do join in if you have questions) so that I can put this thread in the stickies





A quick enquiry re correct stores required to overwinter a summer nuc recieved, now housed in a 11 frame national brood box.

I have been feeding with Invertebee syrup for the last month, they have on inspection yesterday, 6.5 capped frames of stores and intermittent brood over 3-4 frames amounting to 2 frames of brood.

Yesterday, I added an eke above the brood box (in preparation for additional fondant over winter) and then placed the rapid feeder (in an empty super) back over this.

Assuming they need 20kg of stores to survive the winter, am I okay carrying on offering syrup until they stop taking it, then adding fondant and removing the rapid feeder until spring?

I calculate they currently have 14.95kg of capped stores, although there is uncapped stores on every frame.
 
Winter preparations should start
Where to start
Seasonal variation form Orkney to Okehampton means the timing of should will vary, but in late Summer and early autumn begin to get a feel for colony size in relation to hive size and weight. Downsize and cram a colony into a bungalow rather than ask it to rattle around in a cathedral, because thermal efficiency in winter is critical to colony survival.

A colony is likely to survive provided it is queenright, has pollen, carb stores and plenty of bees free of varroa, and provided the hive is dry, fits the colony, is secure from rodent entry and well-insulated above the nest.

The main anxiety for beginners concerns the risk of starvation: I was no different and over-compensated, but became aware that variable factors and colony observation were critical to survival when one year, a colony in a single BB (that had not been fed) came out of winter strongly.

1 Younger queens over-winter more successfully
2 Varroa will compromise winter survival most comprehensively
3 The hive must match the colony size
4 The hive must be thermally efficient
5 Crownboard insulation and a sealed roof achieves 4 sufficiently

Winter stores
Routine advice is that an average UK colony needs 20kg of stores. Start by hefting regularly in late summer after supers are off. Lift slightly with one hand under the back of the hive: if it feels nailed down the colony needs no feed and if ivy is in flow (watch and know if and when it is) hive weight will increase. Repeat fortnightly to gain experience of weights.

That strategy presumes a standard single BB National colony, but a more certain variable will avoid the need to feed and relieve beekeeper anxiety: over-winter on 2 BBs. However, not all colonies are at that stage of development and some will fit a single BB, others a poly nuc, and all may need feeding.

What to feed? Some will leave a super of honey, above or below the BB, some make syrup in the kichen, others buy invert syrup; the latter reduces bees' labour (less water to remove) and is less work (but greater expense) for the beekeeper.

After trying all these options for fifteen years or so I abandoned entirely the messy job of syrup: if not timed right bees may ignore it, or drown and block the feeder slot, and because syrup is heavy the cost of delivery is shocking and it must be carted about and not spilled and watch out, wasps are about!

Feeding fondant resolves much of this palaver: true, it is heavy and not as cheap as bags of supermarket sugar, but we get it from a trade distributor at £17 for 12.5kg delivered without charge. This method of feeding fondant works for any colony size and configuration.

Extra to the above list
6 Aim to winter colonies on double brood
7 Feed fondant at any time

Bear in mind old advice that remains sound: best wintering for bees is bees, and plenty of them. Achieve that by keeping strong colonies (no, much stronger than that), treat for varroa effectively, make them heavy and reduce the hive so that bees are rammed in for winter.
 
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a summer nuc recieved, now housed in a 11 frame national brood box
How full is the box with bees? If a nuc is upgraded later in summer but fails to build, perhaps during a nectar dearth when the beekeeper fails to feed, it may be better to downgrade them back to a nuc.

6.5 capped frames of stores
A DN holds about 2.3kg (see link) so yes, you have about 15kg. It's still warm in East Sussex so I'd carry on feeding until they stop, by which time the weight will likely be up to the magic 20kg.

By the way, do not rely on that figure; it is not a scientific amount that will guarantee survival. For example, warm Autumn weather may encourage brood laying (and so stores consumption) perhaps into winter. Easy enough to identify shortage by regular hefting, and to give fondant.
https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/ass...s/Fact_19_Preparing_your_hives_for_winter.pdf
 
Where to start
Extra to the above list

6 Aim to winter colonies on double brood
7 Feed fondant at any time

Bear in mind old advice that remains sound: best wintering for bees is bees, and plenty of them. Achieve that by keeping strong colonies (no, much stronger than that), treat for varroa effectively, make them heavy and reduce the hive so that bees are rammed in for winter.
'Ramming in' the bees seems at odds with 'double brood'- unless you have remarkably populous colonies. Remembering that the bee population is likely to dwindle over winter, will there be enough bees come February to maintain a viable temperature within the hive?
 
populous colonies
They are; if in doubt, down to one BB.

The bottom BB may contain more pollen and the upper a lot of honey, but both will be solid with bees. Such was the overflow last week that I had to take care not to squash bees when returning the top box.

Bear in mind that many colonies had run on triple brood+supers during the year; the top BB had filled with honey as the nest receded in late summer. The second BB had mainly stores and brood, the bottom one bees and mainly pollen and some honey.
 
Bill Bielby (a great Yorkshire beekeeper) said in his book 'Home Honey Production' in 1972 :

"the best way to overwinter bees is to make the hives as draught free as possible'. He also said 'there is no such thing as too much insulation'.

Regardless of any other considerations for ensuring your bees over winter successfully look at your hive set up - insulation above the crownboard, no leaky holes in the crownboard, a skirt around the open mesh floors or solid floors or an under floor entrance will help the bees maintain the hive temperature with the least expenditure of calories.

Thin timber hives in cold locations will benefit from a PIR hive cosy.
I just need to slide a boards under the floors to limit draughts via the mesh floor. I have upped my insulation game for this winter and to my surprise it is complete......and we still have decent weather. I have noticed an increase in the number flying and the hours of flying as each hive has been insulated. Could it be that the core temp detremines number released to forage ?
 
Allowing for regional variation among others approximately when do the Winter bees finish emerging? Is a busy but brood free colony which has just had Apivar strips removed after 8 weeks ok in the last week in October in NE England or does that indicate a problem ( like Q- )?
K ;)
 
Allowing for regional variation among others approximately when do the Winter bees finish emerging? Is a busy but brood free colony which has just had Apivar strips removed after 8 weeks ok in the last week in October in NE England or does that indicate a problem ( like Q- )?
K ;)

When they emerge they are neither "Summer" nor "Winter" bees. Just bees. What happens to them after that depends in part on how much time they spend looking after brood (as well as how much brood there is, which may effectively amount to the same thing), which in turn has an effect on their rate of development (amongst other things) and therefore they could become either.

You may find Diutinus bees a helpful read.

Seeing a brood-free colony now wouldn't particularly disturb me though I may tag it as one to keep an eye on. In part that's because there's probably not much I can realistically do about it, but mostly it's because I'd not be that surprised about a colony having no, or minimal, brood any time between now-ish and well into December. There was a NHS (I think) talk a few years back in which someone presented their observations of when their colonies were broodless and if I recall correctly where there was a complete brood break, even colonies in the same apiary were as much as four to six weeks apart.

James
 
Allowing for regional variation among others approximately when do the Winter bees finish emerging? Is a busy but brood free colony which has just had Apivar strips removed after 8 weeks ok in the last week in October in NE England or does that indicate a problem ( like Q- )?
K ;)
everything's fine, to be honest this fixation with 'winter bees' is getting rather silly and just a distraction that people need to grow out of.
 
Thanks both, I expected to see some brood so was a bit shocked to see none in two of my three hives, hive 3 had a small amount of sealed brood and some larvae but obviously it was a cursory inspection as I removed the apivar strips.
Queens were present on last proper inspection in September.
There's nowt I can do now anyway so they are sealed up until spring now with just a vape to do.
I am fixated on bees of any season and way too old to grow out of anything ;)
Thanks also for the link which I will read and hopefully understand.
K ;)
 
everything's fine, to be honest this fixation with 'winter bees' is getting rather silly and just a distraction that people need to grow out of.
Too late to worry, if they are stocked with supplies, a sound and insulated hive then you have done your bit and now it is up to the girls and nature. Fingers crossed for everyone, me included.
 
Read link and feel a lot more comfortable with what I saw now, thanks (I do subscribe to the Apiarists blog and have read it before but understand it better now)
Vaped all three colonies this morning and sealed up until spring now (unless I need to vape again around Christmas?)
Thanks again.
K ;)
 

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