Wintering Double Brood Box

[Feckless Drone]

Or is there anything else I should be doing?

Yes! keep worrying, like I do. What you describe look like a well prepared colony for winter. I do a mid-winter oxalic acid treatment when I think the colony is brood less and its at that point that I make sure there is fondant on top of the colony to cover Jan-Feb. I assume that you do not have a queen excluder between the boxes so no risk of Q being trapped below and distant from stores.

[parkyjimbo]

Yes! keep worrying, like I do. What you describe look like a well prepared colony for winter. I do a mid-winter oxalic acid treatment when I think the colony is brood less and its at that point that I make sure there is fondant on top of the colony to cover Jan-Feb. I assume that you do not have a queen excluder between the boxes so no risk of Q being trapped below and distant from stores.

Hi FD , Thanks for your reply , no QEx between boxes only one is on top to support the fondant. As I'm an endless worrier anyway , I have even taken infra-red images (see below) with my thermal camera from below the open mesh floor looking into the hive. I can see the bundle of warm bees at about 21 DegC (was about 3 DegC outside) and even the black strap that passes under the hive floor shows up. Yes that will be the next thing the oxalic acid treatment in mid-winter. Once again thanks for the reply.
Cheers
-Jim

[Mellifera Crofter]

Parkyjimbo, I don't want to alarm you - but be aware that fondant can drip, and if it's severe, a colony can be lost (so I've been told - I've not experienced it). I doubt that a queen excluder will prevent dripping. The usual way of feeding fondant is to cut a few narrow strips in the bag and then place the bag directly on the frames, or to place the fondant in a tub above a feeder hole. Just keep a look-out for excessive dripping - perhaps more so in spring.

Kitta

[parkyjimbo]

Parkyjimbo, I don't want to alarm you - but be aware that fondant can drip, and if it's severe, a colony can be lost (so I've been told - I've not experienced it). I doubt that a queen excluder will prevent dripping. The usual way of feeding fondant is to cut a few narrow strips in the bag and then place the bag directly on the frames, or to place the fondant in a tub above a feeder hole. Just keep a look-out for excessive dripping - perhaps more so in spring.

Kitta

Hi Kitta, thanks for the input , I did check a few times that it wasn't dripping and they have fairly burrowed into the block of fondant , will need replaced in the next week or so. The fondant is still in plastic wrapper with a good number of strips in the plastic opened up running the length and across the width of the block. This should ensure that the bees can access the fondant and also should help with reducing ooze. I have only one hive at the moment , it's worse than having children ;-) , of which I have two all grown up!
Best Wishes.
-Jim

[Mellifera Crofter]

All of that sounds very good, Jim. Best wishes with your colony.
Kitta

[fatshark]

In my experience I've only really ever seen fondant dripping towards the end of the winter season if the colony has expired. A strong and healthy colony appears to be able to cope with any moisture that the fondant absorbs. I use fondant for all my colony feeding in autumn and winter.

[Mellifera Crofter]

That's intresting, Fatshark. So, the colony of the person who told me about the death of his colony by fondant-dripping, was probably already very weak. I think he said it was a strong colony, and it happened in spring - so, perhaps the usual spring dwindle of a strong colony that can't cope anymore?

Do you take any precautions at all against dripping, or do you just put the 12.5kg fondant block, cut in half, straight on the frames?

Kitta