Table of Contents
To survive the winter, bees need 60 – 90 pounds of honey left on their hive. Beekeepers also help their bees by feeding them sugar syrup, candy boards, and fondant.
How do you know if bees have enough honey for winter?
We do the winter check in February these days in most of the country. Our main job is to ascertain whether the bees have enough honey remaining. In Langstroth beekeeping all we need do is to tip the hive either from the back or from the side, just enough that you can feel its weight. It should feel fairly heavy.
Do I need to feed honey bees in the winter?
Each colony needs at least 50-60 pounds of stored honey to keep them from starvation in the winter. If you know early enough in the season, like in the fall, you can begin feeding them. Even if you don’t feed until winter and early spring, you can still feed the bees.
How much food do bees need for winter?
A colony will need the equivalent of about 18kg of honey or sugar syrup to survive the winter. Any late honey stored in September is a bonus. Feed any light hives with a rapid feeder, preferably a Miller or Ashforth tray feeder. These allow you to feed up to 10 litres of syrup at a time.
Can I leave a honey super on over winter?
Yes, you can leave a honey super or several on the hive over Winter. In fact, most beekeepers do have a super or two designated for use by the bees. The size of the box designated as the “food super” for the bees varies from one beekeeper to another and from one region to another.
How much honey is in a 10 frame deep?
The amount of honey in a frame Discounting the weight of the structure and dividing by 10, a full deep frame holds about 8 pounds (4 kg) of honey and full medium holds about 6 pounds (3 kg).
How many frames of bees does it take to overwinter?
If you are overwintering nucs, each nuc should have the equivalent of 8 deep frames full of honey. Nucs overwinter best if they are housed in proper nuc boxes, such as two stacked, five-framed brood boxes.
How do you winterize a beehive?
How to Winterize a Beehive Feed syrup in the fall. Leave enough honey in the hive. Wrap your hive. Ventilate the hive. Use the narrowest opening on the entrance reducer. Protect the entrance from mice. Control Varroa mites.
Can you feed bees straight sugar?
Because nectar is predominantly sucrose (with some fructose, glucose and trace minerals). White sugar, also called granulated sugar or table sugar, is the most similar to nectar that we have available. Therefore, white sugar should be your choice in feeding bees.
When should you stop feeding bees?
The final chapter is on honey bee nutrition. They suggest stopping liquid feed when it reaches 50 degrees during the day. Yes, the bees may be flying, but you should stop the liquid syrup.
When should I stop feeding my bees sugar water?
When your bees have enough comb in the frames and honey stored for the winter, you should stop feeding bees. Discontinue feeding bees sugar water when there is honey in the supers intended for human consumption. If you need to feed your colony sugar water, you must remove any supers before you start.
What do you feed honey bees in winter?
The best feed: If you don’t have extra honey from your own apiary to feed the bees, the next best thing is sugar syrup made from white table sugar. [1] The syrup used in fall and winter should be roughly in the proportion of two parts sugar to one part water by either weight or volume.
How long does it take for bees to fill a honey super?
A colony with a good population can fill a shallow super in 1 – 2 weeks. This is assuming that a strong nectar flow is on and the bees do not have to fly very far to collect it. Of course, it can happen much faster but that is an average.
How long can honey be stored in frames?
You can store capped honey frames for two to three days at the most. But you need to ensure they are wrapped really, really, well to keep bugs and pests out and stored securely to keep away any hungry animals. Any longer than a couple of days and it is best to freeze your honey frames.
What do you do with bee frames after extracting honey?
So what do you do with all those sticky frames? When they come out of the extractor, put them back in a super, and put the supers back on the hive. Sure, there is still some risk of transferring disease, but it is much smaller than at an open feeder.
How many times can you harvest honey in a year?
Most beekeepers harvest honey 2-3 times per year/season. Honey is normally harvested between mid June until mid September. How often you harvest depends on your local climate and plant life.
Can you take honey from brood box?
It is a serious no-no to extract honey with brood in the frame, contaminating with lots of bugs, whether capped or not. Just leave frames out of the job and put them back in the hive, can hatch out and extract later if needed.
Should the queen excluder be removed for winter?
The queen excluder should be placed in the hive above the first honey super. This will allow the queen to migrate to the top of the hive and stay warm during the cold months. New beekeepers forget about taking off the queen excluder only to find their queen dead from a freeze out in the early Spring.
