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General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12225  by AdamD
 16 Nov 2021, 08:37
I tend to hoard too Alfred so you're not alone in that.
I have a heater too. I sometimes to leave it on by mistake on and find that the workshop is warm and toasty a day later so it has a light connected to it which hangs from the window, so I tend to notice when the light is on from the house and can scurry out and switch it off.
My main jobs are cleaning and sterilising this year although I need to finish off my honey dryer; something for after Christmas, me thinks!
 #12226  by Caroline
 16 Nov 2021, 10:51
AdamD wrote:
15 Nov 2021, 09:52
My bee shed is littered with 'stuff' that has been dumped there and left. It's the same every year and it's only come late February as my brain starts to notice the lengthening daylight that I start to sort it all out and prepare for the forthcoming season.
I'm with you on that one Adam!
 #12227  by NigelP
 16 Nov 2021, 11:02
Definitely not much to do bee wise....I've one hive that I know will need fondant but it's not urgent. My bee shed is stacked with supers left over from the heather honey extraction..,..need some nice cold days so I can remove the crisp wax from the frames and ready them for next season. Otherwise all is done and dusted apart from regularly bottling honey and selling it.
 #12228  by Alfred
 17 Nov 2021, 19:09
I had a look at them this am.
Took the thermal wraps back off as they think its the middle of June -three of them have the boxes packed full -how did that happen?
Ive looked at BBCweather and Im due some very low temps for the rest of the month.
Hopefully theyll take a breather and I can do some mitezapping early December.
If not Il be the first ever UK bkeeper to do A.S. in Christmas week. ;)
 #12229  by AdamD
 18 Nov 2021, 09:12
Your comment on wraps opens a question to do with overwintering, Alfred.

I wonder how much an insulated hive encourages brood-rearing to continue compared to an un-insulated one. It's generally said that bees do better over winter in an insulated hive, however does varroa have a chance to continue better if there is no let-up in brood-rearing?

Or is brood-rearing almost entirely governed by the daylight length?

Would we be better, say, to keep insulation off our wooden hives until January and insulate after that to allow faster brood production before spring?
 #12230  by Alfred
 18 Nov 2021, 13:24
Hopefully it will slow them down a bit so there's at least minimised brood
This Is the first time I've seen an apparent expansion or at least supersize clusters going into winter- but it's also the first time I've 'gone overboard'with sublimation.
Maybe that has changed the game.
They will no doubt need supplement feed sooner.
Not complaining though!
 #12231  by JoJo36
 22 Nov 2021, 06:35
Fitted thermal 'jackets' if you can call them that to my hives and tied the panels roughly cut out with string!
Ordered some more hive straps to hold them tighter in place for fear of winds blowing them away throughout winter!
They look a bit rough but must have warmed the hives a little bit I think?! Checked fondant and one gone completely which I replaced and another a third way through, will keep an eye out and replace.
It's got very cold down south but still some bees flying in the sun.
A nice short dry winter would be nice??!! :)
 #12232  by Steve 1972
 22 Nov 2021, 13:35
Hefted the full colonies yesterday and all but one weigh a ton..the light one will be getting a eke and 2.5kg of fondant at the weekend..I also checked the seven frame nucs for fondant all but two have plenty to nibble through for now..the two with hardly any left got half of a 2.5kg pack each..the bees are flying today and still bringing pollen in..
 #12233  by AdamD
 23 Nov 2021, 09:07
Weighing a ton reminds me of one colony a few years ago that I though had done a brilliant job in autumn. A queen to breed from, perhaps. The double brood box was absolutely full. Come oxalic acid time in December, the bees were still right at the bottom of the lower brood box - I could see them down there. Sadly, come spring they were all dead with signs of varroa damage. I suspect that they had robbed out another hive which had a high varroa load - not one of my own as they were all fine - and brought the varroa back with them.
Another one of those beekeeping moments when hopes are high, only to be dashed a short time later!
 #12234  by NigelP
 23 Nov 2021, 12:32
Always sad when it goes wrong....over the years I've never got over the sadness of seeing a hive full of dead bees. Even more so when I know it was my fault!

With your post in mind it forced me out on the road to check an apiary site where i knew I had a light hive that would need feeding at some point. It was light so opened lid and added blocks of fondant over a nicely clustered colony, added an eke and put it all back together. it was 6C and all was done in less than 30seconds...and today is supposedly the warmest of the week in our area.
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