We finally got a seasonal day today. The temperature was around 50 degrees and sunny. The bees were somewhat clustered between the deep and medium brood boxes. There were some bees in the honey super. They were a few bees flying before I went into the hive. Lots flying by the time I finished my visit.
Feel free to critique my winter set up or offer opinions / suggestions.
I removed Apivar strips installed in mid-September, removed an unoccupied bottom deep brood box, cleaned the bottom board, put a 7/8 by 5/16 notch on the underside of the inner cover for ventilation (facing forward on the same side as the lower opening), put an inch and a half shim above that filled with insulating foam and another inch of insulating foam on the underside of the telescoping cover on top of that. Previously I put a thin 1/4 inch layer of insulating foam below the bottom board and set the lower opening to the smallest setting (opening up). The hive configuration is a deep brood box on the bottom, a medium brood box in the middle and a medium honey super on the top.
I have not yet committed to installing a quilt box. I will likely wrap the hive with a bee cozy.
I did not pull any frames for inspection or resource evaluation nor did I do a post treatment mite count. The colony size appears strong. Stores were good a month ago. I kept the hive inversely stacked and covered with the inner cover to minimize heat loss as I quickly did my manipulations.
What minimum temperature do I need to pull a frame to do a post treatment mite count? Is it too late in the fall to do a mite count or follow up treatment? It will be lower to mid 50 degrees next week.
The removed deep brood box has resources in it. Fully drawn comb. 2 half frames of capped honey/syrup. Pollen / bee bread. Stored uncapped syrup. How do I take advantage of those resources and store them without a freezer? (I have the moth crystals to protect the comb over winter storage.)
There were 10 to 20 old dark capped brood cells in the removed brood box. The caps had holes in them. I picked out a few dead nearly formed bees. One cell was a bit gooey - tan / light brown goo. I left the rest alone for possible inspection by a more experienced beekeeper.
Do I keep the bottom entrance as is, reduce it further or close it completely? If I close it completely, how long do I keep it open until the bees get accustomed to the new upper opening? (The upper entrance was being used right away.)