Winter preparation hints and tips

[Jon]

I noticed in a recent thread that Gavin reported a comment by Murray McGregor that his winter losses were in the region of 3%-5%.
That is exceptionally good and well below the normal historic winter loss figures which are usually considered to be 10%-15%.

Some people are still losing 30% + of their bees over winter.

So what should we be doing from late summer to autumn to get through the winter with minimal losses?

Here is my list. Feel free to add more.

• Treat for varroa mite. Treat early and use an approved product. You need to get shot of the mites early enough to allow a couple of brood cycles raising mite free, virus free bees.

• Do something about nosema if your bees often have a nosema problem over winter. Fumidil has been withdrawn but Thymolated syrup seems to be a good alternative and thymol is easily added to winter feed.

• Feed if they need it in September and October but don’t feed gallons of syrup at the start of September leaving the queen nowhere to lay. I tend to feed mine 4-6 litres of thick syrup as insurance more than anything. Any extra stores can be removed in spring.

• Replace dodgy queens. If you are finding supersedure cells in late September there is a good chance you will find an unmarked unmated drone laying queen in the spring. Ditto colonies with massive amounts of chalk brood which is linked to queen genetics. These colonies are best combined or requeened with a decent queen if they are strong enough.

• Make sure hives are in good shape, water proof, storm proof, ratchet strap to hold all together, and a brick or two on the roof, not sitting in a site liable to flood. I use top insulation in mine, a 460mm square of 50mm thick polystyrene between roof and crownboard.

• Use Oxalic acid as a follow up varroa treatment in late December when the colony should be broodless.

[madasafish]

Wot, no matchsticks? :-)

[Jon]

Sadly neither matchsticks nor ley lines figure in my apiary management but somehow the bees struggle through!

[Rosie]

Ventilation is important. I leave my mesh floors open and insulate the crown boards to avoid top condensation. I don't mind condensation on the side walls as it does not drip on the cluster and probably gives them a convenient source of moisture.

[gavin]

Murray is predicting higher losses this winter. Poorer queens, fewer young bees, weaker colonies and to that I'd add higher Varroa in general to last year.

Rodent protection is one I'd add to Jon's excellent list. Mouse for sure, unless you habitually use entrance reducers anyway. I have one colony which has plummeted in size recently. It did have a Varroa problem but the heads and legs appearing on the floor insert suggest a shrew may be the main culprit. How do you stop them getting in?!

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[Jon]

I do the same as Steve re. ventilation although I have some on solid floors. i have fitted mesh floor to almost all my correx nucs as well.

Re. the mice, sometimes I put on mouseguards but there are years I haven't bothered.
I do put out some pasta bait at strategic points around the apiary.

I am also expecting higher losses this winter as the clusters are smaller than I would like and there is no pollen in my colonies.
They seem healthy enough though, just a bit smaller than I would like.
I will be reducing some down to 7 or 8 frames with insulated dummy boards in the brood box.
Most of my queens have pretty much shut down already and I remember last year finding a colony with about 6 frames of brood in late October.
The weather in September was poor and October looks no better.

Gavin, if the drones are gone maybe a strip of queen excluder would keep the shrew outside.

[Poly Hive]

Always put on your mouse guards. I have trapped 7 mice so far in my shed and we are "urban". FWIW Nutella is an excellent mouse bait. When I put bags of poison under my hives it was very rare for them to be untouched. Mice kill hives given the chance, prevention is usually the better option.

PH

[nemphlar]

Changed all mine to OMF with 9mm L shaped front doors seems to keep the mice out
All good points from Jon,but the devils in the detail, I think the August thymol treatment I used on most of mine and which stopped the young q's laying means they'll struggle. Next year any treatment will not go past 8 days.

[Jon]

I often have queens stop or reduce laying in August with or without the thymol.
8 days is not really enough to treat varroa as the mites under the cappings will emerge unharmed.
I may be wrong but I think the main problem at the moment is lack of pollen combined with poor weather.
The ivy is only starting here which is at least 2-3 weeks late.
Queens stop laying when they have no pollen to feed brood.

[Bumble]

Rodent protection is one I'd add to Jon's excellent list.

Would it be worth adding woodpecker protection to the list too?