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New Zealand Beekeeping Forums
NZ Beginner Beekeepers
Packing down for winter
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<blockquote data-quote="John B" data-source="post: 1856" data-attributes="member: 207"><p>Keeping a diary is important but you have to remember that every year is different. I have always started to winter the hives about halfway through February but in the old days there wasn't the rush that there is now with varoa and some of the hives would not be shut down until late April or even May. I got the last of my hives down to 2 high today and also the last of the varoa strips in. Most of the hives I have been doing have been getting a little bit of fresh honey and with luck most of them will have a minimum of 15 kg but I don't care if they have more and will feed sugar if they have less when it's time to shut them down completely for the winter. This year most of the hives are reasonably heavy in the second box but some years they can have full honey boxes and almost no stores below. I remember one year when we re-queen some hives that had almost no stores and were doing nothing so we went back earlier than I would like after re-queening to give them an emergency feed to keep them alive only to find they had got onto a good late flow and were all absolutely chocka. </p><p>It is possible for hives in this area to gain a box of honey in March or even April but it doesn't happen very often and I believe it's much more important to treat varoa than worry about losing a bit of honey. I do however try and shut down hives that are doing the least, first.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John B, post: 1856, member: 207"] Keeping a diary is important but you have to remember that every year is different. I have always started to winter the hives about halfway through February but in the old days there wasn't the rush that there is now with varoa and some of the hives would not be shut down until late April or even May. I got the last of my hives down to 2 high today and also the last of the varoa strips in. Most of the hives I have been doing have been getting a little bit of fresh honey and with luck most of them will have a minimum of 15 kg but I don't care if they have more and will feed sugar if they have less when it's time to shut them down completely for the winter. This year most of the hives are reasonably heavy in the second box but some years they can have full honey boxes and almost no stores below. I remember one year when we re-queen some hives that had almost no stores and were doing nothing so we went back earlier than I would like after re-queening to give them an emergency feed to keep them alive only to find they had got onto a good late flow and were all absolutely chocka. It is possible for hives in this area to gain a box of honey in March or even April but it doesn't happen very often and I believe it's much more important to treat varoa than worry about losing a bit of honey. I do however try and shut down hives that are doing the least, first. [/QUOTE]
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Packing down for winter
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