BBKA Forum

Yes it's me again! ..

So they're still taking down syrup and fondant, should I just keep topping them up until they stop? Or keep feeding fondant all winter any way?

Also I need to get my apivar strips out. As the weather is turning what would be a sensible winters day to open them up?
If it's to cold will it damage them? Still not seeing any dropped mites on the boards...

You can overfeed....so it depends if the hives feel as if they are nailed to the stand then stop feeding.
Take your strips off any time or weather you feel like, its relatively quick....... lid off, remove strips lid back on. Even my bad girls don't have time to take any notice of whats going on. Tip.take a pair of pliers to pull the strips out with as the bees nail them in place.

Thanks Nigel for the quick reply

Dam should have chanced it!
Hopefully drier next week.
Do I need to worry about the bees in the feeder and fondant box? Or under the crown board?

And is vented floor better than solid floor on a wbc?

Shake brush them back into hive.
One thing I have learnt about beekeeping is if you need to do something then you do it even if the weather is the pants.
Open or closed floors.....your choice the bees will survive on either.
My thoughts are open mesh for summer closed floors for winter...but watch for water ingress through the entrance. I Like the abelo floors as they have a removable poly insert which you can slide in over winter and I leave a small gap near the entrance so any rain water entering drains out. I think bees come out of winter in better condition if they don't have to work too hard to maintain their internal cluster/hive temperature over winter....so I try to minimise any areas where heat loss can occur.
That said they will survive winter (given sufficient stores) with a crown board propped open with matchsticks and a through draught all winter long. But do those bees come out of winter in as good a condition as my mollycoddled lot???

Crazyhorse wrote: ↑

31 Oct 2021, 16:25

Yes it's me again! ..

So they're still taking down syrup and fondant, should I just keep topping them up until they stop? Or keep feeding fondant all winter any way?

Also I need to get my apivar strips out. As the weather is turning what would be a sensible winters day to open them up?
If it's to cold will it damage them? Still not seeing any dropped mites on the boards...

Feeding bees syrup and fondant should be done based on the amount of food stored in the hive and the availability of natural nectar sources. If the bees have enough food stores to last through the winter, there is no need to continue feeding. The use of apivar strips should be timed based on the timing of the Varroa mite infestation in your area, and the instructions provided by the manufacturer. It's generally recommended to remove the strips during a warm spell in the winter, when the temperature is above 15°C (59°F), to minimize the potential for damage to the colony. If the temperature is too cold, it may cause the strips to break and fall into the hive, which can harm the bees.

Thanks for your first post 7777.
It can be a juggling act to ensure that a hive has enough food for the winter and there is enough space left for the queen to lay in - especially with a 'relatively' small hive such as a National or even worse a WBC - unless there's additional space available from a second hive body of some sort.