Table of Contents
2021/2022 Winter
Feeding in 2022
- PB - plastic bag
- FF - frame feeder
- RF - round feeder
- B - plastic bottle
- PP - pollen patties
- SB - sugar block
| Date | Sugar/Patty | Solution | Hives | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Apr-06: | PP | half of Bee-Pro+ | all | 1:30 pm at 50F | |
| 2022-Mar-25: | SB | resupplied 4 hives where sugar blocks were gone | 11:20 am at 43F | ||
| 2022-Mar-20: | PP | half of Bee-Pro+ | all except 3E, 4E | 2:30 pm at 46F | |
| 2022-Feb-20: | removed all PP but 2 hives | left as experiment | left in 3E, 4E | 11:30 am, next try in 2-3 weeks | |
| 2022-Feb-16: | PP | half of Bee-Pro+ | all hives | 11:30 am | |
| 2022-Feb-08: | SB | n/a | all 6FR over 6FR | 1:30 pm | |
| 2022-Jan-12: | SB | n/a | #5 | 11:30 am |
Oxialic acid in 2021
I am using Johno's EasyVap
- 23.08.2018 Lek na warrozę, paski gliceryny z kwasem szczawiowym. miodykamionek.pl Nowy sposób podawania kwasu szczawiowego, paski kartonowe nasączone roztworem gliceryny i kwasu. 1000 g gliceryny spożywczej, 600 g kwasu szczawiowego podgrzewamy do 65 °C, nie więc bo kwas się rozłoży. Paski kartonowe 3 na 35 cm, rozmiar na korpus dadanta. Po nasączeniu na drugi dzień aplikujemy na ramki. Można stosować przed pozyskiwaniem miodu.
| Date\Hive | 1N | 1M | 1S | 2E | 2M | 2W | 3E | 3M | 3W | 4E | 4M | 4W | 5 (10FR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-Oct-27 | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp / 1 mite drop |
| 2021-Oct-18 | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp / 16 mites drop |
| 2021-Oct-11 | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp |
| 2021-Sep-30 | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp |
| 2021-Sep-15 | removed strips from all hives | ||||||||||||
| 2021-Aug-19 | 5 strips | 5 strips | |||||||||||
| 2021-Aug-13 | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | 3 strips | ||
| 2021-Jul-27 | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/4 tsp | 1/4 tsp | ||||||||
| 2021-Jun-21 | 1/8 tsp | 1/4 tsp | 1/8 tsp | ||||||||||
| 2021-May-30 | 1/4 tsp | 1/4 tsp | 1/4 tsp | 1/8 tsp | |||||||||
6 Frame hives
Feeding bees
Using plastic thin grocery bag works well, too. Bees punch it after couple hours and empty in a day.
There is R20 roof insulation on every 6 frame hive. Right picture shows that vents in ventilation box are closed with 3/4“ XPS
Insulating lid
This is R6 insulated dome (hood) covering three 6 Frame over 6 frame hives.
Two regular 10 frame boxes fit under the dome, too.
Winter roof insulation
- A thick rope to make beespace under the foil
- Thin foil
- Reflectix layer seals the foil below and reflects heat back to the hive.
- A ventilation box with closed vents
- R10 XPS inside the box
- R10 XPS on top of the box
- R6 dome on the top of that will come before winter
Fully insulated
A single hood covers three colonies. Each colony is made of two 6 frame deep boxes. Upper box was full of food (~40lb) going into winter. In March each colony got a sugar brick and a pollen substitute patty.
- R20 + R6 = R26 roof
- R6 sides
- no upper ventilation
- 1/3 open disk entrance in lower box
- open bottom entrance
- 6x 1.5” dia screened holes in bottom board open during winter
Making sure that bottom entrance and the only bottom ventilation are open after heavy snowfall
10 Frame BeeMax poly
Putting BeeMax together
Moving from wooden to poly
Wintering in poly hive
There are two pieces of R10 XPS on the top of poly cover to make total ~R26. The roof is much better insulated then the side walls. The red tape closes air leaks between lower and upper box. There is no upper entrance/ventilation. All ventilation is through lower narrow entrance and open screened bottom.
Protecting bottom entrances and ventilation from snow
Feeding sugar blocks and pollen substitute patties in March
First spring inspection in 6 frame hives
Done on Apr. 10, 2022 at 56F on a sunny day.
- all 12 hives had brood in all stages and young nurse bees.
- 3 hives had drone brood, too
- 1 hive had walking on the comb young drones.
- all hives had still capped sugar syrup from fall feeding
- minimum was half of the frame
- maximum was 3 frames and untouched sugar brick. It means they needed only ~22lb of capped stores (3 deep frames) for the whole winter.
- strongest hives got more sugar bricks from hives which had enough stores in frames.