10 for 10....so far

[Aroc]

No real manipulation here.  We just crack the quilt box and replace any sugar bricks that need.  We are usually in and out in less than a minute.

Once you crack open a hive the propolise that has sealed it cannot be repaired in the dead of winter.  You just created an emergency situation because now the hive has to consume more to make up for the air infiltration and is exposed to harsher conditions.  Follow the advice in post #13.  Emergency feed should only happen in early spring if you did your homework right.  I would gauge early spring when the bees first start to fly.

I appreciate the advice but the way we do it and when we do it the bees do not seal up the area we crack open.  Might be because we use canvase on the bottom of the quilt box, thus creating it?s own seal.  In the last. 4 years it hasn?t been a problem.

I might try the advice given next year on a couple to see if there is a noticeable difference.

[MikeyN.C.]

From what I've read, alot of beeks use top hole in shim (vent - entrance)
I don't,  I use tape around shim and inner cover.

[van from Arkansas]

SiWolki:One picture is the configuration I now use. A top feeder with insulation material, embedded the top feeder box where I can feed anytime without opening the hive. Put on is the wooden lid with ventilation plus a metal lid.

Very similar to what I call a winter board.  Agreed, yes, can open without out exposing frames.  There is a 2 inch, 5cm hole in the middle of my winter board.

Today 71F, last year this time minus 8F, an eighty F difference!!!!!

HP has a good point about no emergency feeding I.e. equals poor planning or genetics.  However HP does not have the 80 temp differences as we do in Arkansas.  Warm weather means an additional 60 days of feed, heavy feed as brood is started increasing consumption of honey exponentially.

[SiWolKe]

I?m rather glad I have my sticky boards to close the floors.
I can check the brood situation without creating disturbance.

For two years now I feed until my colonies have 30kg surplus ( with honey comb mostly), since I take only surplus honey I don?t have to feed the colonies going into winter which I made in spring.
They get comb with stores to start them and that?s it. I feed late splits made with new queens ( with honey and sugar syrup, I have had no honey frames left).

Beekeepers here say the bees need 15-20kg, but this is not much. I use the surplus stores they have in spring for feeding or extract them, when still liquid.

I introduced foreign genetics. They had to be watched carefully concerning the food situation. Those coming from the south did not store enough but used all for breeding. I had a split filling 16 broodframes in two deep dadant hives. The northern ones the opposite. Up to 8 frames brood and much more honey.

Now they are all adapted except one queen which is new. In my area it need two generations of descendants. Concerning resistance the F1 are the best performers. After that it waters down and one needs to select or losses rise. I?m on my way to do this if I have good survivors. I multiplied so far, did no selection, so it may be possible I have to start all over again.



 

[MikeyN.C.]

I guess i'm still not understanding something after 4 yrs.  of keeping bees ?
Ace said if you open top of box bees can't seal it back up, when alot of beekeepers use a top vent. We all on this forum live in totally different climates.  Does anyone here have the exact same winter yr. after yr. I thank not. So i thank that over wintering bees should be taught or learned in your specific
area.
I made lots of mistakes reading to much from beeks in different parts of the world.
I thank everyone should have a fall , winter, food, stores plan. But your way might not work here.
Hope you understand where I'm coming from?

[van from Arkansas]

Mickey, what you texted makes perfect sense to me.  Short to the point, precise!!!

-However although Honey Pump is in Canada, {and others}the fella texted a lot of useful information that is relative to my bees.

-I am in forested area, very few fields, so as you pointed out, very unique conditions here.  Yes, I saw what Ace text about propolis seal.  Well, there is no propolis in winter as Ace texted.  However ventilation is a whole new subject.  Think I will avoid that subject.

-SiWolKe, I enjoy your text.  Genetics of honey bees is so difficult:  one mother, 10-12 possible dads, feral or apiary drones..... And it takes over a year for me to access the F1.  Then there is  F2??  F3???
Blessings

[MikeyN.C.]

? How do you access f1 trait? 
If open breeding, dca is open rite?
I don't know what f1 is . please infor. me short answer will be fine.

[van from Arkansas]

In simple terms F1 is the first year or first generation, sons and daughters. F2 is second generation, grandkids.

My apologies Mickey, I should have texted first generation, NOT F1. 

[Aroc]

From what I've read, alot of beeks use top hole in shim (vent - entrance)
I don't,  I use tape around shim and inner cover.

I get your point.  I didn?t really think of that.  All our our hives have upper and lower ventilation.  I would think that propolising would be a moot point for bees, especially in the upper portion of the hive.  But I may be wrong.

I do insulate my hives as well and make sure the insulation is above the feeding shim.

[van from Arkansas]

Mickey: ?How do you access f1 trait?

Mr. Mickey,
-I look at timing of colony build up in Spring
-energy of the bees, honey gathering
-Disease
-gentleness
-swarming
-laying pattern
-wax production
-winter abilities

Timing of brood production is so important in my area,,,, all forest.  I need queens that build up brood BEFORE the flow.  The flow in my area is tremendous early on, Red Bud and Wild Plum everywhere but last only 2-3 weeks.  If a queen waits to lay until the after Red Bud blooms, the bees will miss the biggest part of the flow.

Early laying queens make so much honey there is excess for extraction.  That means honey for me.  Average queens that lay after the Red Bud blooms only make enough honey for the hive to make it thru the next winter.  No honey for me with these average queens.

As you so eloquently texted, my area is unique and I need queens that fill the brood box before the flow or the wild Plum and Red Bud will be gone, completely missed by the time the bees hatch.

[MikeyN.C.]

I'm sorry about misunderstanding,  so f1 is your breed in your apiary?

[MikeyN.C.]

Im sorry if i'm off here. How do you control
DCA ?

[van from Arkansas]

I can instrumentally Inseminate any virgin queen.  However most of my queens are breed by local drones, the dca.

F1 is  a daughter or son
F2 a grandson or grand daughter
F3 great great grand daughter/son

With livestock, the parental linage may go back 20-60 generations,  Much easier to say F60 generation than great great 59 times.

[SiWolKe]

I can instrumentally Inseminate any virgin queen.  However most of my queens are breed by local drones, the dca.

F1 is  a daughter or son
F2 a grandson or grand daughter
F3 great great grand daughter/son

With livestock, the parental linage may go back 20-60 generations,  Much easier to say F60 generation than great great 59 times.

My F1 is already watered down because she is open mated, so the term F1 is not correct if you see it from the point of a queen breeder.
To call the terms you need controlled open mating or artificial insemination.

Because of that I don?t use F2, F3 or such in public. If I were surrounded by ferals or had have the opportunity to flood the area with my own drones the term would be more accurate, but not as a term to tell anyone.
I use this as numbers on my hive lids though, to know about the queens.

About propolis:
There is some research about hive interiour climate, done by Torben Schiffer. He measured the humidity, for example, and found that steam can go through propolis, but condensation cannot drop back.
Plus, the bees change ventilation to their advantage, there had been bees reducing the entrance or close up ventilation openings by propolising it. In winter they are not able to close up the hive again after you took off boxes, like they do all season long. They can?t forage for propolis and can?t work it to make it smooth. A drafty hive is not a ventilated hive. I would rather leave the decisions to the bees if I could.

Beekeeping is all about location. Stinger13, I understand perfectly about your locale. It?s always better to purchase bee stock which is adapted to such a local situation.
My own 3 places are totally different though they are only 20km apart.
More shady, more sunny, more dry, more humid, neighborhood bees, flow, water source, sea level, wind protection, predators,....

You cannot follow advise without considering this, but every information you get from others is helpful.
It needs years to build up your own experience and still you are surprised often by what?s happening. There are places where bees should not be placed, they never thrive.

[SiWolKe]

-I look at timing of colony build up in Spring
-energy of the bees, honey gathering
-Disease
-gentleness
-swarming
-laying pattern
-wax production
-winter abilities

When I worked as apprentice in sweden, the propagated traits were exactly that. Swarming was managed by the beekeeper so it was not evaluated much.
To come out of winter strong was very important, this meant mite tolerant bees and early foragers.

Gentleness...well, if I compare this to our local carniolan weak mutts they were a little more "spicy", just like mine are. Normal bees, not toys. Not good to work with flipflops and spaghetti tops but still good to work without protection clothes if you are careful.

It was a resistant bees queen breeding enterprise plus a honey production. I saw that it works to have honey producing tf colonies.

[Vance G]

AROC, I don't know what you have had for winter on the warm side of the mountains but here in Great Falls, we have hardly had one.  You are wintering better than I as I have lost three out of thirtysome colonies.  I am very satisfied with that level of mortality and most of the remainder are very strong.

 I opened mine about the same time you did yours and it was in the low fifties.  I actually prefer doing my checks when it is a lot colder.  At zero, the bees just wave their little tails with stinger exposed up at you and stay put.  Where at fifty, I actually had to put on veil and gloves.  The inspection paid for itself as I found the inevitable hog hive boiling with bees and light with every grain of Mountain camp sugar gone.  I loaded them up with sugar bricks brought for the contingency and made a mental note to order three more queens for splits and marked the hive for queen replacement.  No need to propagate bees that won't naturally winter. 

I plan on opening my colonies at least twice after adding mountain camp sugar, wrapping and top insulating in November before March where even though the weather is non flying, I will be popping lids weekly to replace pollen patties first added in mid February.  If you don't use an insulated wrap designed to be opened from the top, this management style would probably not work for you and I wouldn't advise it. 


Unless you are prepared to deal with the strong populace colonies going into swarming season, your bees will all go to the trees!  I find it worthwhile in spring honey and valuable spring splits.

But, opening the bees in cold weather is not in itself harmful.  Now it is not the time, for photographing both sides of every frame, exhaustive searches for queens and other foolish behaviors.  You only open the hive when you have a reason and you are  prepared to perform that task in literally seconds.  An important element of this is my winter entrances/ventilation is thru a 1 inch hole bored in the upper brood box right below the hand hold.  This helps in rapidly sealing up the top so I can maintain the warm moist bubble above the entrance around the feed and the part of hive occupied by the bees this time of the winter.