Winter preparations

[Happy Chooks]

What are all of you doing to prepare your bees for winter?

Today, I inspected both of my hives. The main hive is packed full of bees. I pulled 1 brood frame just to verify the queen is laying, which she is laying well. (lots of eggs) I pulled a few outer frames to see how their stores are, and they are doing well with a lot of capped honey.

Then I inspected hive #2 from my split earlier this year. I saw my beautiful queen, eggs and they are storing syrup and pollen nicely.

Both hives are bringing in a large amount of pollen. I added mite treatment to both hives, and feeders to bring their storage up more before it gets cold.

With some luck this winter, I should have 2 productive hives next year!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quite a few dead mites dropping from the main hive. It's always surprising how many fall, when you don't see much evidence of them.

Not many yet on the 2nd hive, but they had some brood breaks in trying to get a queen, so maybe that took care of most of them. We'll see as the treatments go on.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, caught a break on afternoon temps Hovering at 60 but feels much warmer in the sun) so just went out and pulled the empty deep and empty double feeder off the hive and put the outer cover back on right above the inner cover. There were quite a few yellow jackets/wasps trying to find ways into the hive. The bees were concentrated bearding around the entrance, so I doubt any are getting inside.

They never moved the honey from the medium honey super frame I placed in the deep, so I left it outside so they can scavenge it if they want. This evening I'll go bring the deep and the medium frame inside and crush/drain for another pint of delicious honey! The last thing to do is wrap it with black felt paper, but I'll wait till after Thanksgiving to do that unless we're forecast for a really cold spell before that.

 

[Happy Chooks]

It is 51* here today, and the storm is coming in quickly now. We will not have any clear days for at least a week, so I popped the top super quick, just to make sure they have enough patties to keep them going.

My small hive (from the split that got a queen really late), which I've been worried about not making it to spring, actually had some bees flying. When I checked, they were working on the patty and have plenty to keep them going. Closed them up quick like, and I hope they make it to spring.

My large hive, nobody was flying, but when I opened the top, they too were working the patty. Plenty left for them as well, so I closed them back up quickly too.

I put the rocks back on both hives, as the winds are supposed to come in strong. Yay for another good storm!!!!!! Bring on the snow!

 

[Alicia]

I know this is a year old....
Had some prep for winter concerns. I live in the Pacific Northwest....very wet and sometimes very cold. Is there a need to wrap or cover the hive?

 

[Happy Chooks]

I don't wrap my hives. My understanding is they get wrapped in really cold climates. (like Canada)

 

[Alicia]

That's what I thought. Many people around here have bees and I see some of the hives covered....not around the sides but covered from one side over the top to the other side, leaving the front and back uncovered. I was/am unsure of the need or benefit. My concern is that covering would prohibit air flow and allow moisture to build up.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I added sugar water to my hives this weekend. A check on the entrances showed that my hives are still bringing in a lot of pollen. My 2nd hive hadn't taken it's syrup yet, so no refill there. The other 2 were filled up.

The yellowjackets were out around the hives, so I may have to stick some bait out for them. All 3 hives still look strong so far.

 

[Alicia]

Very very rainy here. Mite treat mentioned was great...according to grid board. Saw some flying during a brief dry spell. All sound full and happy from the outside, can't open yet due to temp and rain.

 

[Happy Chooks]

We have the rain here now too. Got my work done before it hit us.