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A Beekeepers Beginning
by Leo Kuter -
May is the month for preparing our hives for winter. I have not as yet been to the McDonalds’ “pack down” day 29th I can only report on advice that I have received over the last month.
I attended the Melbourne Section meeting in May where they had a discussion on various approaches to wintering bees, three different views were given and it seems the best method is the one that suits you. The common theme was to keep the bees and brood warm on the colder days by restricting the heat outflow, having sufficient stores and restricting the movement of bees within the hive.
The first approach was’...to do nuffin...’ with the hives in a suburban environment. It was considered that as most hives in this situation are protected from the cold winds by fences on at least three sides and the heat out flow is minimal. Sufficient stores means frames of honey in the brood box and four was considered adequate. The hives were not packed down and the preference was for two boxes.
The second approach was to reduce the volume of the hive where there is a possibility of frosts and cold winds. This would be in a rural situation with no protection for the hives. Linoleum on the top of the frames and under the lid restricts the amount of heat escaping. Adequate room around it allows air and moisture to flow out gently. Hives are packed down into one box and big strong colonies into two boxes. Queen bees excluders are removed and honey stores are set at four frames per box. Frames of honey can be transferred from stronger to weaker hives to ‘prop up’ the stores in weaker hives. It goes without saying that you have to be very careful not to transfer pests or diseases. The entrance to the hive is usually closed up to 75 mm to 90mm.
The third approach is a combination of both. Hives are packed down to two boxes with and excluder in between. The linoleum is put on the frames and the top box stores additional honey for the colony, entrances are partially closed and no feeding is done. All hives are checked on a regular basis and frames of honey are manipulated between the boxes if deemed necessary. Hives are put into locations where there is some protection from cold winds and the bees have access to winter pollen and nectar e.g. coastal belt or desert country.
Some people said that they put feed (sugar and water) out for the bees and monitor the amount that they take, obviously if they clean up each feed very quickly they are hungry but equally you could argue that the bees could be complacent as they do not have to go far for a feed. Also there is the possibility if nosema disease occurring. Some beekeepers in other countries have tried with success other fluids such as apple juice as a feeding supplement.
Following on from my previous article about wintering in an urban high rise situation I was fortunate to have a conversation with a beekeeper who has hives on multistorey buildings in the CBD. For wintering he packs down into two boxes with an excluder in between. Linoleum is used to stifle heat loss (carpet tends to absorb moisture) and he closes up the entrances. Most of this hives are on the north facing wall which absorbs the day’s heat and this assists in keeping that side of the hive warm at night and during cold days. He is vigilant in examining the laying characteristics of the queen and gets rid of the ones who have not performed. He sometimes puts the lino on top of the excluder and aims to have six brood frames in the lower box with two frames of honey and just honey stores in the top box.
The hives are usually in a relatively warm location and it is interesting to hear that they do well and usually swarm in august or early September. He splits his hives every spring irrespective of the condition of the hive. He examines the brood box every two weeks to check on stores, drone cells and brood cells. All hives do well over the winter and he suffers minimal losses.
Around the industrial estates areas in Dandenong and I suspect other industrial estates, the developers were required to plant trees to beautify the bare factory areas. They must have been advised by horticultural people who had an eye on the future for beekeepers.
The Dandenong area must have been on an old river bed or delta as the red gums (E.camaldulensis) are magnificent and very big. Plantings of spotted gum (Corymbia maculata), yellow gum (E. leucoxylon), red flowering gum (E. ficifolia), paper bark(Melaleuca ericifolia), red iron bark(E. tricarpa), coastal banksia,(Banksia integrifolia) and bottle brushes (Callistemom species) have been made along the streetscape. Various others which I have not yet identified occur throughout the estate. Water is available from Dandenong creek.
With all this in mind I have put a two box hive on top of a single level office. The hive has an excluder and I have put it adjacent to a north facing brick wall and it is surrounded by a parapet wall. This keeps the bees ‘up there’ and not outside the front door.
It will be interesting if any ‘industrial honey’ is produced in the month of April and May. If there is excess I may be tempted to rob a frame or two.
I have just got my issue of the ABJ and note that Robert McDonald has an editorial on Wintering of Bees which summarises what I have just written. Also thanks to Ann Thorburn for her kind word about various articles.
ABJ stands for Australian Bee Journal