Leave them bee!

As we approach December of 2012, I wanted to remind folks that if temperatures are lower than about 75 degrees outside, then try not to open up your hives at ALL.

The only exception that I can think of at the moment would be to add fondant for feeding – and then it needs to be a FAST open, set it in, and close.  See my post from back on November 18th for a recipe and directions for making bee-candy – or fondant.  ( recipe HERE )

When doing this – you can either set the candy directly on top of the frames, or on top of an inner-cover that has a hole in the top of it to allow the bees to come and go at-will.  Either way – you may need to set a reduced-size spacer on top of your current setup in order to allow room for the candy.  Note, though, that you don’t want too much space, as this adds to the volume of airspace that the bees will have to overcome when generating heat to keep their cluster warm.  My suggestion would be to use an inner cover – that way their heat is maintained in a more consistent manner. – and any propolizing that is done to seal up cracks does not have to be broken.  Then place a spacer board on top of the inner cover.  The spacer can be 1x lumber (which is really 3/4″ in thickness) – and possibly 2 to 3 inches in height to offer space for the candy.  You may want to add soy flour or pollen substitute to the candy.  If they don’t  want or need it, then they won’t take it.  It’s better to have it available for them, though.

One of my hives has propolized their entrance down to about a 3/8″ hole.  If you don’t already have entrance reducers in place – depending upon your temperatures – it’s probably past time to reduce them down.  This is also an effective method of retaining their heat.  If you use a screened bottom board, then you can slide in a thin sheet of plywood, or a sheet of appropriately sized (cut) coroplast sign.  These are the material that the coroplast signs are made of.  Check right after an election with someone who ran for office for extra signs to use.  Otherwise, maybe a sign shop has misprints or culls that they could donate for your cause.

A jar of honey can go a long way in bartering for materials.  😉

In all – remember these things:

Bees try to maintain about 95 deg. F inside their hive.  If you open up their hive unnecessarily, or when it’s too cold, they may freeze to death.

Condensation can form inside the hive if there is not a little ventilation to allow it’s exit.  This condensation can freeze, and make your winter cluster of bees a frozen clump of bees.

If you can prepare for the worst, and offer your bees the environment that best suits their needs for survival, then you should have bees in the coming spring.