We started wrapping our hives with roofing felt this weekend. Normally takes a full week with weather delays to get them all buttoned up for the long cold.
This job normally doesn't start until Thanksgiving when it's to cold to work the felt paper.
So this year, I'm following Mike Palmers lead and starting this job early.
I used to do them every year but seemed to get away from doing them as the numbers increased.
We started back a couple of years ago and now we are seeing that it has helped with our winter loss.
A few tips that we have picked up is to fold them ahead of time in a heated shop.
We now use a strip of plaster lathe (wood) to secure the paper to the bodies.
Also, make sure you staple around the upper entrance to hold the paper tight to the box.
We have had a few hives that crawled under the paper and got lost somehow.
You really don't know that they died under there until you unwrap in the spring. :shock:
Next job, making those candy bricks. Bought myself a used stove for the shop. Now, I can make as big a mess as I want to women! :needhelp:
Heat is obsolete. Just try making them 2 cups water to ten pounds sugar and what ever other magic JU JU you want to incorporate. In just a few days of cold or cool the bricks harden up nicely.
ANTS
But you have chiggers too! It causes no additional ant problem for most of us.
If your putting sugar on the ants will be shut down just as much as the bees are..
I also agree heat is obsolete.. Candy board is a LOT of work for no gain.. I do pop my turkey pans loaded with damp sugar in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple hours.. Then let them rest with the oven light on till moprning, a spoon in the oven door to crack it open. The next morning I can take the bricks out of the pan and slap a new batch in.
Pretty cold out there this morning. :(
I've got a bunch of dahlias and canna to dig up but I'm going to wait for the weather to break at least a little.
Never tried the wrapping. I usually go into winter with at least a couple of wood hives, but I do hate working in the cold.
We are using Robo's recipe for our candy bricks. The whole purpose of heating the candy is to invert the sugar for the bees. You can also use vinegar in your mix for that purpose too.
When cooking the candy, we heat the mix to the Hard ball stage (270).
The process makes a very hard brick that can be handled or moved around in the spring.
They also absorb excess moisture throughout winter.
After they cool off, they are ready to use or store for later.
No waiting for days till they get hard enough to pickup.