Search
Search titles only
By:
Search titles only
By:
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New listings
New media comments
New resources
New calendar events
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Calendar
New events
Resources
Latest reviews
Search resources
Classifieds
New listings
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search titles only
By:
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Reply to thread
Menu
Install the app
Install
Forums
New Zealand Beekeeping Forums
NZ Beginner Beekeepers
Packing down for winter
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Welcome to NZ Beekeepers+
Would you like to join the rest of our members? Feel free to sign up today.
Sign up
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Wknz" data-source="post: 1763" data-attributes="member: 175"><p>My configuration is two brood boxes with 1 or 2 honey supers above QE. Full depth , 10 frames.</p><p></p><p>My first winter I had only just gotten the bees and it was a bit of an epic as they arrived and 16 days later there were bees with no wings on the concrete in front. It looked like that disease where they have deformed wings. Just munted stumps. Bayveroled them and added a top feeder for winter. Got them through.</p><p></p><p>After winter had them swarm and return twice.. The queen was dead or munted. Got a new queen hatched but she bred badly and ended up with a super aggressive hive. Killed the queen and requeened. Things got better but went into winter with 1 honey super that got mouldy. Took it off and used the frames for hive feeding. There were only a couple.</p><p></p><p>However it was a weird winter. They were collecting pollen all the way through, only dumped the drones later in winter than I expected and needed no extra feeding. That was a busy winter. Stores never dropped too low.</p><p></p><p>As a result my history gives me no real baseline for making really informed decisions. I now know that keeping the honey super is probably a bad idea for condensation and mould. </p><p></p><p>I picked up 3 more hives this season.</p><p></p><p>I now have 3 really strong and one okay hives. All two brood boxes deep. Supers above QE </p><p></p><p>The okay one is a rescued swarm from three months ago. Only put a second box on in jan. There was a dearth so ended up feeding them as stores were two frames honey and 8 solid capped brood frames.</p><p></p><p>My other two new ones were [USER=205]@CHCHPaul[/USER] s queens. One was early in the season. Lovely girls unlike the mess I started with. </p><p></p><p>Other 1 of those hives is two 8 frame, full depths and a flow hive above. They were later in the season and were the hive with all the dead bees a month ago. Their stores are likely to be lower. Will see this weekend.</p><p></p><p>The piece I'm trying to figure is how soon to pack down. I'm inspecting this weekend with a view to deciding if I can pack them down or should pack them down. </p><p>They are still collecting pollen on and off. I have feeders so could feed them if required. </p><p></p><p>It's too late for them to swarm I think so will take mumzies advice and try I box of brood and one of food...obviously leaving honey on two outside frames at least. </p><p></p><p>I'm hoping this winter will be a normal winter...unlike last one which was warm and dry and weird. I'll requeen one hive next year...shes had two seasons.</p><p></p><p>I've been trialing apiary book app. It has some flaws but seems reasonable. I'll look at the diary here too. I tried using paper but as my wife will tell you I can loose paper work walking from the kitchen to my sunroom office. </p><p></p><p>Hope this makes sense. Thanks for the advice.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wknz, post: 1763, member: 175"] My configuration is two brood boxes with 1 or 2 honey supers above QE. Full depth , 10 frames. My first winter I had only just gotten the bees and it was a bit of an epic as they arrived and 16 days later there were bees with no wings on the concrete in front. It looked like that disease where they have deformed wings. Just munted stumps. Bayveroled them and added a top feeder for winter. Got them through. After winter had them swarm and return twice.. The queen was dead or munted. Got a new queen hatched but she bred badly and ended up with a super aggressive hive. Killed the queen and requeened. Things got better but went into winter with 1 honey super that got mouldy. Took it off and used the frames for hive feeding. There were only a couple. However it was a weird winter. They were collecting pollen all the way through, only dumped the drones later in winter than I expected and needed no extra feeding. That was a busy winter. Stores never dropped too low. As a result my history gives me no real baseline for making really informed decisions. I now know that keeping the honey super is probably a bad idea for condensation and mould. I picked up 3 more hives this season. I now have 3 really strong and one okay hives. All two brood boxes deep. Supers above QE The okay one is a rescued swarm from three months ago. Only put a second box on in jan. There was a dearth so ended up feeding them as stores were two frames honey and 8 solid capped brood frames. My other two new ones were [USER=205]@CHCHPaul[/USER] s queens. One was early in the season. Lovely girls unlike the mess I started with. Other 1 of those hives is two 8 frame, full depths and a flow hive above. They were later in the season and were the hive with all the dead bees a month ago. Their stores are likely to be lower. Will see this weekend. The piece I'm trying to figure is how soon to pack down. I'm inspecting this weekend with a view to deciding if I can pack them down or should pack them down. They are still collecting pollen on and off. I have feeders so could feed them if required. It's too late for them to swarm I think so will take mumzies advice and try I box of brood and one of food...obviously leaving honey on two outside frames at least. I'm hoping this winter will be a normal winter...unlike last one which was warm and dry and weird. I'll requeen one hive next year...shes had two seasons. I've been trialing apiary book app. It has some flaws but seems reasonable. I'll look at the diary here too. I tried using paper but as my wife will tell you I can loose paper work walking from the kitchen to my sunroom office. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for the advice. [/QUOTE]
Verification
What type of honey is New Zealand famous for?
Post reply
Forums
New Zealand Beekeeping Forums
NZ Beginner Beekeepers
Packing down for winter
Top
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…