What have you done today bee-related?

[MickBBKA]

You are very knowledgeable about beekeeping and helped me a lot in my early years with advise but you shouldn't be closed mind about other peoples experiences. I now have 12 years under my belt and have gained a lot of local experience that just isn't yours. You are starting to sound like a Roger . My wood colony's are also dry as a bone unlike the poly and we have had 2 inches of snow and -5c this weekend and they are running about under the polycarb crown boards on all my wood hives. Before the snow this week they were still bringing in 2 types of pollen, Ivy and Hazel by the look of it. This is not a competition, I think it would be a benefit to figure out why we have such different experiences rather than nail our colours to a mast based on just our own experiences and support of just one supplier of preference. Beekeepers about 5 miles from me who are very prominent in the BBKA moved to complete poly hives a few years ago and I respect their choice but there is a huge difference between their location and mine which can be a massive difference in determination of hive type. Emperors new clothes don't fit everyone.

[NigelP]

I to would love to know why we are seeing such huge differences with the same hive type.
As I said in my last post damp may be the issue, if your poly hives are damp inside, as you keep telling us they are, then that may explain why you are seeing a slow spring build up. Logically poly hives are better insulated than wood so retain heat making brood rearing in spring more energetically efficient as, they don't lose the heat so fast. If the heat of a spring sun gets your bees flying in a wooden hive and not a poly then the difference in insulation is quite apparent.
But people should use whatever hive type works for them and not decry others choices. One good reason for wooden hives is when you have a rat problem. A mate of mine has had to move back to wooden hives due to a serious rat problem in a couple of his apiaries where they were eating the hives during the winter.

[JoJo36]

Mick
Maybe you could take a few snaps of the water ingress poly hives to show your situation compared to your wooden ones to compare??!!
Blimey Nigel, never thought of rats eating poly ones??!!

[NigelP]

So do sheep JoJO. I had one well eaten on the moors one year..... rats and sheep are not often used as reasons against using poly

[MickBBKA]

I will see what I can find jojo but its not damp. Often the outer combs are full of water.

[JoJo36]

Don't risk disturbing those 'cosy' bees Mick if the weather is cold but if the outer combs are full of water, that can't be good for those bees over winter!!

[AdamD]

It's varroa treatment time for me.
Yesterday was dry and mild at 11 degrees but a bit blowy at my main apiary as the hives are at the side of a field. However I took the opportunity to treated them all for varroa by dribbling. All colonies were alive which is a good thing (although I know of one that will have an unmated virgin inside).
The tally of hives includes some Abelo mini-plus nucs which are big enough so that I don't need to worry about them too much over winter. They were full with stores in the autumn with comb being drawn below the frames and into the floor space; just one of these is now a little light so I will have to watch that one next year. The bigger colonies are all good with stores as we had a good autumn.
Roll on spring!

[Spike]

It's varroa treatment time for me.
Yesterday was dry and mild at 11 degrees but a bit blowy at my main apiary as the hives are at the side of a field. However I took the opportunity to treated them all for varroa by dribbling. All colonies were alive which is a good thing (although I know of one that will have an unmated virgin inside).

Why an unmated queen. What will you do with it?

[Ewen]

I have lost two of my hives to varroa I believe ( plenty of stores in them dead hives and could not see any damp(though some of the frames had mould on them, but I put that down to the fact that there were no bees to keep the temperature constant in the hive) as the mite drop was like crazy on my other two hives. I have treated with oxalic acid vapour two consecutive weeks and still lots of varroa drop.
How many treatments you can do , as I’m fearing not to kill the bees as well from so many treatments?

[NigelP]

Technically there are no limits to the number of vapes with apibioxal (oxalic acid). I would suggest keep at it until varroa drops reach an acceptable number. I once did 10 vapes on a hive.....that was when I decided vaping (in some hives) was too inefficient to be considered as a regular treatment.