Fall/Winter in the HiveWest Plains Beekeepers Association

Jack and Ellen Miller

Topics: Preparations for Success Reasons for Failure Winter Cluster Characteristics

Preparations for SuccessConsensus:

Enough honey and pollen located correctly in hive (approx. 60-80 lbs)

Ventilated hive (top and bottom)

Enough bees (approx. 6 frames)

Productive queen

Take Winter loses in the Fall

Room in the center for bees i.e. empty cells

Protection from invaders (mice, etc.)

Hive tilted slightly forward so water runs out

Locate hive away from Spring water

Fall PreparationRemove any honey supers still on the hivesRemove any queen excludersUnite any weak coloniesRe-queen colonies that have weak or old queensDestroy any diseased or poisoned coloniesProvide for top ventilationMove bees to a sheltered location if necessary

Harvesting HoneyInspect your hives: Check bottom two hive bodies

Put the hive body with the most brood on the bottom

Ensure that the queen is not in one of the supers. These hives have a queen excluder separating the hive bodies from the supers.

Harvesting HoneySelecting Frames

Frames that are ready for harvest: Most cells

are capped.

Harvesting Honey - decapping

Extracting the Honey:• Doing it yourself:

Place the frame somewhere that will be easy to clean

Cut off the caps with a knife

Open any cell that was missed

Harvesting Honey - Extracting

Place frames into the extractor Place the lid on the extractor Be the extractor is on a flat surface that can be

cleaned easily The extractor may need to be anchored to the floor

Harvesting Honey - Extracting When extractor reaches the full point, open the

bottom drain and fill containers with honey Screen the honey to remove small pieces of

debris (wax, pollen, bee parts, etc.) Wax will rise to the top

Harvesting Honey – Comb Honey

Types of honey harvesting: Extracted honey is the most common, but comb honey is also popular. These photos show comb honey produced in top bar hives.

Comb honey: The wax has been produced by your bees and is edible. Harvesting the honey is easy.

Select the frame for harvesting based on same criteria as extracted honey

Cut the comb off the frame Cut the comb into the size appropriate for your container

Harvesting Honey - Summary and Questions?Summary: Inspect hive Frames with mostly capped honey cells Extracting honey

Steps for doing it yourself Comb honey

FeedingFall Feeding

When Temperatures are above 60 degrees F2 to 1 sugar to water syrup

A 25 pound bag of sugar in 13 pints hot water A paint mixer on a power drill helps

Winter FeedingTemperature below 60 degreesPlain granulated sugar on light paper over top bars

Allow ventilation around the paper

Fondant

Preparations for Success #2

Recommendations Generally Agreed To:

Stores on the sides of the cluster in the bottom box and above the cluster in the top box

Sheltered from the wind

South facing for maximum sunlight

Top entrance hole

Accessible throughout the Winter

Merging Weak Hives

If your hive doesn’t have enough bees or food:

Option: If you have more than one hive, merge a weaker hive with a stronger hive, or merge two weak hives together to make a strong hive.

If you need to merge two hives, separate the hive bodies with

a sheet of newspaper.

After a week the two colonies will be one.

Move frames of brood into bottom hive body.

Move frames of honey into top hive body.

Differences of Opinion:

Need a colony covering 20 frames in a 2 story hive; 130 pound gross weight; 10 pounds of bees 18K - 35% 4.5K - 85%

Minimum of 60-80 pounds of honey

Equivalent of 4 frames of pollen

Entrance NOT blocked with reducer for ventilation

Reasons for Failure

Starvation Run out of honey/food Honey/food not where it is needed

Lack of ventilation (moisture)

Too few bees to maintain cluster

Over-management of hive

Bee's digestive tract compacted

Mites

Infrared Hives

http://www.beebehavior.com/infrared_camera_pictures.php

The Winter ClusterWinter Bees Larger hypopharyngeal glands More body fat

Size of Cluster is a Function of Temperature +50 F 14 inches +20 F 11 inches -14 F 10 inches -26 F 4 inches

Heat Loss is Proportional to Cluster Size

Shape is Oblong Sphere

Internal Temperature 90 degrees F

The Winter Cluster #2

Structure The outside shell of bees or mantel is from 1 to 3 inches thick with

the bees filling the spaces between the frames and empty cells.

Inside the shell or core the bees are less tightly packed and warmer. They are able to move about and care for brood, queen and to perform maintenance

The outside bees rotate with the inner bees based on hunger not temperature. Average 8 days with maximum of 16 days with a full honey stomach.

Temperature regulation is by endothermic heat production in the core and insulation control by the mantel.

It’s only the cluster temperature that is controlled by the bees – the hive temperature is close to outside temperature.

The Winter Cluster #3

Temperature Bees start to cluster at 57 degrees F

Bees use winter stores most efficiently at 45 degrees F

The lowest temperature the hive can survive depends on how many bees, how many stores, and duration of cold spell

In moderate temperature the bees move honey closer to the interior of the cluster

In colder temperatures the bees compact but must always maintain contact with honey stores

Mantel temperature 48 – 57 degrees

Core temperature 64 – 90 degrees.

The Winter Cluster #4

Bee Movement Bees will organize the nest in preparation for Winter.

During warm spells bees will move supplies to the cluster.

Cluster will migrate toward the warm side of the hive when temperature is above 48 degrees.

Cluster will follow the heat in the hive up, as supplies are consumed.

Cluster size shrinks and expands in response to temperature.

The inside of the hive is the same temperature as outside the hive.

The Winter Cluster #5

Differences of Opinion

Too large a Fall cluster can be detrimental because the bees can go through their stores too rapidly

Wrap hive for the winter

Significant variations on bee behavior from one race of honey bee to another:

When they stop rearing brood How large the winter cluster How soon they begin rearing brood How efficient they are with stores

Medication and disease control

Winter Schedule

August/September – Prepare hive for winter (location, stores, ventilation)

October – Any further preparation such as additional feed

November/ December – Check for use of feed only if weather permits; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

January -- Brood rearing starts in January as days lengthen; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

February/ March -- Colony inspections on first warm days in late February or March; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

Summary:Fall management of bees is important:

Helps the hive over-winter successfully Prepares the hive for nectar flow the following summer

Unless the temperature is over 50 degrees F, don’t open the hive

Bees normally excrete body waste in flight. If they can’t fly due to long periods of cold temperature, they may defecate in the hive and dysentery might occur

Bibliography

ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture by A.I. Root

Better Beekeeping by Kim Flottum

Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping by Dewey M. Caron

The Journal of Experimental Biology “Hot bees in empty broodnest cells: heating from within” by Marco Kleinhenz, Brigitte Bujok, Stefan Fuchs, and Jürgen Tautz

Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad

The Thermology of Wintering Honey Bee Colonies by CHARLES D. OWENS, Agricultural Engineering Research Division, Agricultural Research Service