winter prep

[Charlie Garrott]

A few questions and comments:

 

1. I am going to level up my hives today so that they are level across the hive and tilting slightly forward, 1" higher in rear than in front. I use screened bottom boards with slider boards already in.

 

2. I have already put on styrofoam insulation on the top of the hives. I am going to get all the rain hats in good working order. I use corrugated plastic roofing from Home Depot. I am getting ready to put styrofoam insulation on all hives. When should I put this on? I might just put it on the sides and rear and leave the sun exposed front bare.

I am also going to put in anchor screws in the ground so I can tether the hives down in case of high winds.

 

3. I think it is OK to remove robbing screens now. I will do it at night. I removed all feeder jars two weeks ago.

 

4. I did a 5x4 OAV treatment in late August/early September. On the last treatment, I had a lot of mites drop out on a couple of the boards. To be safe, I think I will do another 5x4 treatment and then do another at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Is this a good plan?

 

5. There are a few bare frames in my hive that did not get comb pulled on them. At last inspection (9/24), the bees were pulling and filling some comb on some of these frames, but not all. I am concerned that at least I need to get the bare frames moved to the outside of the hive to keep the cluster to the middle. I have one old frame with some honey on it and two old frames with comb. Should I put them in in place of bare frames?

Tomorrow (Tuesday), high temperature in the afternoon will be 64F dropping to 33F at night. Wednesday will have a high of 65F and a low of 38F. Is it safe for me to go into the hives to do some frame arrangement? Maybe I should just work on the top box. I already moved brood down to the center of the lower boxes.

 

I appreciate any feedback!

 

Charlie Garrott

[Kristina T]

Hopefully the more experienced will add to this. 

Low 60s should be fine for inspection. I’d wait for the warmest part of the day.

I’d put frames with stuff instead of empty frames.

Everything else sounds good.

Do you have a plan for moisture control / condensation in the hive? There are different opinions, but I closed my top entrances after hearing a presentation about how wild colonies over winter. The bees metabolism will create water vapor and that vapor can ‘rain’ down on bees in the hive. Options are a moisture board or quilt box. Your protection from the rain sounds good.

Kristina

--
Olympia Beekeepers Association Discussion Group
For more information visit https://OlympiaBeekeepers.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OBA Discussions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to oba-discussio...@olympiabeekeepers.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/olympiabeekeepers.org/d/msgid/oba-discussions/d3a19e0e-3689-46dd-abbe-6b3535a75dbcn%40olympiabeekeepers.org.

[Charlie Garrott]

I have been trained to prop up the top cover with a 3/4" x 6" long wood block placed on the inner cover at the rear of the hive. This slightly lifts the top cover to create an opening between the hive body and the outer cover to allow air to circulate to release moisture. Use a hive tool in the crack to push the inner cover forward and pull the outer cover back. I remove the screen that was on the center hole in the inner cover. This allows bees to gather on top of the inner cover and enjoy the flow of warm air.

I was led away from quilt boxes. The explanation was that the quilt boxes are a big sink for precious heat. I have been told to keep the slider boards under the screened bottom board clean as the debris will soak up moisture.

Thanks for responding. Good luck surviving the winter!

Charlie Garrott

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "OBA Discussions" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/a/olympiabeekeepers.org/d/topic/oba-discussions/JHuxgre79b4/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to oba-discussio...@olympiabeekeepers.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/olympiabeekeepers.org/d/msgid/oba-discussions/CANbeAawwcAJzxT-CO2NCgQDnsWmkxowrxZkmOe7m7KzEBkxuYw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Kristina T]

Multiple ways to do beekeeping. 😊 My hives did survive last winter. We shall see about this year.

Kristina 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/olympiabeekeepers.org/d/msgid/oba-discussions/CAD-NnDaGMVnqGLQbLuKOSHDtWFzCcmcMp3Nr_0SHYnG_8Wo%3DJg%40mail.gmail.com.