New beekeeping apprentice

[gavin]

Thanks, thought it must be something like that but then I didn't take in to account them being moronic lol! Now I know its possible and to watch out for it.

To be honest, they do try hard to put their stores above their heads in autumn and perhaps we are to blame for rearranging things and putting them in boxes of shapes not to their liking . If we do that, then insulation (especially above their heads) helps them warm up enough to leave the cluster and collect stores from the colder parts of the hive to see them through the worst of the weather. Or give them more food immediately above them.

[The Drone Ranger]

To be honest, they do try hard to put their stores above their heads in autumn and perhaps we are to blame for rearranging things and putting them in boxes of shapes not to their liking . If we do that, then insulation (especially above their heads) helps them warm up enough to leave the cluster and collect stores from the colder parts of the hive to see them through the worst of the weather. Or give them more food immediately above them.

Your right there Gavin I don't much care for brood and a half overwintering because once they get up into the super they stay there and even that small gap between the brood frames and the super frames can become a real barrier
In the SBA mag Ian Craig advised two brood boxes with only 8 frames in each plus a wide insulating spacer either side, rearranged so all the food was above the bees in September when any top up feeding was done.
Wish I was as organised as he is

[Emma]

Your right there Gavin I don't much care for brood and a half overwintering because once they get up into the super they stay there and even that small gap between the brood frames and the super frames can become a real barrier
In the SBA mag Ian Craig advised two brood boxes with only 8 frames in each plus a wide insulating spacer either side, rearranged so all the food was above the bees in September when any top up feeding was done.
Wish I was as organised as he is

The bees I've worked with don't seem stupid. During mild weeks in winter, they range to the far edges of the hive to break out some stores. When it's cold and they can't move far from the cluster, they nibble nearby stores. They do all get a whole super full of cuddly dry blankets above them for insulation. (And I watch to see what they're dropping on their varroa boards with helpless fascination, all winter long! - that's how I know which stores they're working on. Health warning, Beth: beekeeping can seriously take over your life.)
Wish I was as organised as Ian Craig, too. Then I wouldn't have spent so much of this week making up brood frames

[BethPotters]

Had to laugh at Emma's warning re bee keeping taking over. I'm what.... 3 weeks in, two hive visits, finished my second book and popping on here twice a day with coffee. My hubby joked last night that I went 21 minutes without mentioning bees!!! I've just started reading this fantastic book that I borrowed from my menor called Honey and Dust, Travels in Search of Sweetness by Piers Moore Ede. (Going to recommend on a general thread too.) It's a novel written by a guy, who after a life changing injury goes on a personal quest to seek out the most amazing honeys and bee histories in the world.

Thanks for the info too, starting to jot things down for future reference.

[The Drone Ranger]

Bees at the Bottom of the Garden by Alan Campion is a good book to start with Beth

[BethPotters]

Fab thank you, will go and have a look for it.

[fatshark]

I've always thought that Adrian and Claire Waring's book which used to be called Teach Yourself Beekeeping and is now called Get started in beekeeping - teach yourself is very good. Works from basic principles, includes good coverage of diseases and the principles of swarm control using both conventional artificial swarms and a nuc-based method.