LOL no perhaps at all I was given most of mine by Bernard Mobus so they are a good 27 years in my possession and who knows how long he had them before that. I wonder if the top would fit mine as I am not seeing dimensions on the site you linked to.
I did a sort of half hearted attempt some years ago using an old fish box as a "cosy" so am thinking of making up some cosies and ekes to put fondant in and wintering on the 6 bars. If it works it's a bonus and if not well well no great loss.
PH
You can stack up Apideas as much as you like as well
No doubt Jon but I don't have any of them and am not planning on spending out when I already have 20+ Kieler units.
PH
I haven't used Kielers for overwintering but I have tried them out for general summer use. They work ok but it's worth spending the extra couple of quid per unit to work with Apideas imho. The Kielers don't have a firm inner plastic cover with a slot for a queen cell so you have to immediately start adapting things if you want to use ripe queen cells. The inner cover also tends to leak bees as the bees can push it up when the lid is removed. The poly also appears to be a little less dense than the poly in an Apidea and bees and wasps can chew holes where you dont want them. MBC and others will be on to sing the virtues of the mini plus in a minute.
Well Jon having used them for the length of time already mentioned I disagree with several points. Now remember I am NOT talking about ones bought yesterday. I have never seen burrowing in the polly apart from some mouse damage. I seem to remember on an other forum several complaining bitterly about that problem with the Apideas.
My Keilers have a perspex inner that Bernard made as I suspect they were bought with no inner supplied and so it is certainly heavier than the bees combined strength. They don't have a slot for a Q cell so yet the inner has to be removed and the cell pushed against a comb. Remembering these units are designed to be started with a virgin not a cell. So there is no difference in giving a cell to a Keiler than to a five frame nuc.
Anyway all if this is a side show as I am asking about over wintering tricks.in KEILER units not anything else please.
PH
OK, here goes ...
Get rid of the internal feeder - takes up too much space (1/3rd of the ground floor). I only use this when starting them off from a cup of bees (and a cell ... which they are designed for - see below)
Buy or build or bodge an upper storey.
Build a 'frame feeder' for fondant but make it shallower (to fit the upper storey). I've posted a photo of one of these previously I think. Essentially a hollow with QE nailed on each side. Just use 'ears' for the top bar so you can fill it with fondant. A better DIYer than me (i.e. everyone) would make one side fold down perhaps.
Build the colony up from one storey to two.
If you can afford it (or can build it) get rid of the frame feeder and add a further storey packed with a kilo or so of fondant. I used to make a false floor of Correx and just used this over the top.
Keep them as sheltered as possible. No frost pockets. I used to either leave them on a low stand in the lee of a fence under some ivy or similar. Alternatively, I've overwinter them in an unheated greenhouse with a single tube going from the entrance through a hole in the wall.
Even with a lot of TLC I think this is a borderline activity. 50% might be the best achieved, though the numbers were small so not statistically significant. This was when I lived in the Midlands. Now I'm in Scotland I'd probably not bother. Instead I'd use 3/4/5 frame nucs which are a better bet all round.
It's not just the survival rate, it's also the ability to get late-mated (presumably, if not, you've got all the issues of managing these small boxes through the season when they're rapidly running out of space) queens built up properly for the winter. Everything is easier in a full frame nuc, and if it all goes belly-up you can rescue what you can and simply unite with another colony.
These Kielers are designed for QC's. They come with no crownboard by a thick piece of poly with a simple flap works just fine. Gaffer tape or pin it to one edge so it doesn't blow/lift away. The purchased top bars (at least those provided by ModernBeekeeping) have cutouts through which you can introduce a cell. The bars are close enough together you can hang a Nicot (?) cell holder by the ears. I've done it dozens of times and it works perfectly.
However, don't buy the top bars from MB ... build your own, and simply cut opposing recesses in the two central ones. 9x21mm (if I remember correctly) timber works fine.
How much on earth are they charging for them????? Direct from source they are so cheap it is not even worth picking up free wood and cutting them (about 6p IIRC)....and the factory made ones are all scalloped on both sides so the frames don't need to be in a fixed position or order.Originally Posted by fatshark
However, much like on the Amm thread......people are not understanding so clearly that the aims of an amateur beekeeper who wants to prove he can get mini nucs through the winter, even if only once, are very different from the consideration of whether it is in fact worth doing so. Like you I cannot see why one would try very often as made up into a poly nuc they stand a far better chance AND are ready to go on the correct combs in spring.
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