I think for me the most confusing part of beekeeping is what to do just before winter is about to break/early spring. This lack of understanding caused most if not all of my hives to swarm.
This website https://wolfcreekbees.com/pages/a-year-of-beekeeping-january-december (https://wolfcreekbees.com/pages/a-year-of-beekeeping-january-december) has a pretty detailed guide that I will bee referencing/following this coming year but I would like to know what others do as well.
I'm comfortable that I can get my bees ready for winter. I now understand mite control and winter stores better. However when this next spring comes, I would like to bee prepared.
Thanks,
Ken
Do a search for "Keith Delaplane" on utube.
Oldies but goodies. Definitely good informative videos but I'm still curious what others are doing this time of year.
I watched most of them today and I'll finish tomorrow.
Thanks!
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In the spring, be proactive at adding space.
Do not wait for nectar flow and do not wait for bees to be bearding out front. Stay one to two weeks ahead if them.
One frame of capped brood is three frames of walking bees a week later. Four frames of brood is a BOX of bees next week.
Inspect the hive on a 7 to 10 day interval so you catch queen and cells issues early. At each visit Count up the expansion space they will need (count brood frames) and add space before they need it.
Do that well and you will not be chasing swarms.
Hope that helps!
HP sums it up very nicely in a single word :PROACTIVE.
May is the swarm month in my area. I keep adding space all Spring, if the queen is lacking on cells to lay in, she will begin the swarm process. I had one hive try to swarm last May, I immediately split and solved that problem. My breeder queens must be checked for space every 7-10 days. I requeen all hives except my breeders. Young newly mated queens are not likely to swarm if the have plenty of space.
Laying patterns, gentleness, honey production are accessed for each queen as I am looking for possible breeder quality queens and hives to place green drone frame.
March to April, I start grafting queen cells depending on drone population.
Van
Bees don't eat much during winter until they decide to rear brood. Then they burn through a frame of honey and a frame of pollen for every frame of brood they rear. They often start in late winter because of brood rearing. That's the time to check their weight and make sure they don't starve. If they are light you can either give them dry sugar or you can steal honey from any deadouts. Some bees build up explosively which makes them likely to swarm if you aren't paying attention. Things change quickly in the spring.
In the coldest months I vape them with Oxalic Acid (when there is no brood). Otherwise, most of winter is construction time.
A question for Beeks in warmer climates -
Overwintering empty drawn frames outside doesn't work because of mold & pests here. Even when the comb is in a plastic bag, our clean, drywalled garage can't keep out wax moths. So, comb goes into our guest room closet. What do others in warm climates do?
And what's the best way to have plenty of comb on hand for fast late winter buildup? [ -since the bees don't eat 20 frames of honey, and empty them for brood -] Feeding 1:1 syrup after winter solstice?
here is my method for what it its worth,
After extracting the frames they spend a few days at the back far corner of my yard getting cleaned by the bees, then they go into a freezer for no less than 6 hours. I let them return to room temp inside on the counter. While all this happens I go get the weed torch and toast the insides of all the boxes. I then reunite the box and its frames and bag them in heavy contractor bags. Most of mine are done and put away. I will finish the last ones tonight.
Barry
Some good tips on comb handling. What is done about Propolis, both in the boxes and on frames?
Phillip
Here in coastal Australia, if you get immersed too much in building equipment for spring and forget checking your colonies, a couple may just swarm on you. It doesn?t get cold enough for a brood break and things flower when you look away.
Even if you do a split in winter, the queen gets mated naturally. Some colonies always seem to have drones.
Things do slow down, but never stop.
I extract some honey when full and leave some for the bees for the late summer dearth, but generally leave at least one super on all year.
Most colonies hold their weight over winter, just some Italians seem to contract and only start building up when others are already full.
I can?t imagine what it?s like keeping bees in colder climates, when you can?t even look in.