Wrapped up for winter

With the unendurable weather we've been having of late, where rain has alternated with rain and frozen mornings have turned into freezing days, I thought it was time to shield the bees against the elements. So, with Richie's help and both unprotected, we placed the celotex panels around both brood boxes and dropped the portcullises, also known as mouseguards.

As the celotax panels are all slightly too large (they were originally cut to size when the hive were on their stand-alone stands), I returned a day later to cut off the excess and put in screws so the mouseguards wouldn't slip.

Now winter can come!

The hives in their space suits

Off drugs, on food

After four weeks of stunning Apiguard, which hopefully convinced every last varroa mite in each colony to give up and just drop onto the floor, it was time to do a full inspection and judge how the colonies were faring before the winter.

A quiet Star

The full inspections were fairly easy and swift, as the bees were on their best behaviour. It is possible that they were slightly dopey from the cold, but on the other hand it's hard to imagine they were not luxuriating in the sun and just enjoying the first sunny day for weeks. What made the inspection slightly challenging was the fact that the bees had used their weeks of peace to ensure everything in their colony was stuck down fast and that all gaps were braced. This meant a bit of a clean-up job before lifting out the frames, but it wasn't too bad.

Still quite a few bees there

Both colonies looked good on checking through them. In both the queen is still laying, though a much reduced area and only on two to three frames. Most bees now seem to be the darker, winter type, suggesting the bees are preparing for winter.

Closing up after the inspection - note on how few frames the bees are

However, the stores are not great, with two to three frames empty in each hive. To get those filled as quickly as possible, we put feeders on each hive and I'll be refilling those at regular intervals.

Giving the bees a sugar overdose