This winter I placed Candyboards on all four of my hives. It's not something usually done in the UK, I found the idea on Canadian and American websites. Provided the bees have enough stores a Candyboard shouldn't be necessary, but I figure if we have an unexpectedly long Winter like that of 2012/2013 I'd rather spend a few quid on sugar in December than replacing starved bees in April. It's the second year I've used them and whilst it appears to have been successful the fact is both Winters have been very short and mild. Whilst the sugar is placed on the hive as emergency food left to their own devices the bees will happily take it and fill the comb. That would mean less space for eggs and slow down the spring build up, the lack of space might cause them to swarm too.
The bees in Hive4 were using the top entrance and there was a lot of bee poop clearly visible. Possibly a touch of nosema or dysentery. This hive is on a solid floor unlike the other three and was the only one the bees have been using the top entrance for. The lower entrance on this hive isn't reduced and is clear of dead bees.
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| Needs a clean |
There was some faeces on top of the sugar too in this hive. Whilst you'd expect to see some poop on the outside of the hive it's not really normal to find it on the inside -although it's a bit questionable as to whether or not the bees consider the cavity they made 1in the candyboard as inside or outside of the hive proper.
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| Some things you shouldn't do where you eat |
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| ..and a little more on the top bars |
There was some more on the top bars below the hole in the sugar. I'd been planning to reuse the uneaten sugar from the boards to make syrup and whilst I'm not sure what temperatures nosema spores can stand I decided it'd be prudent to throw away this sugar. I washed it down the sink and gave the empty wood and mesh frame a long soak and scrub in a strong Sodium Carbonate (Soda Crystals!) solution and let it air dry before scorching it, I'll be treating these bees for Nosema too.
Opening Hive2 I could see the bees had also been taking sugar and for reasons best known to themselves had avoided the top entrance. They'ed taken all of the pollen substitute I'd left in the centre of the candyboard and there were still some bees licking the empty plastic wrapper.
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| Taking sugar |
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| There was pollen substitute in that plastic wrapper |
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| Populous colony for February |
Hive2 was looking very strong with about 8 seams of bees, no doubt thanks to the mild winter. Moving on to Hive1 they'ed also avoided the top entrance and taken far more sugar than the rest, they'ed also taken all the pollen substitute.
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| Party food! ..although it was intended as emergency rations.. |
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| Hive1 looking well populated too |
I think there was about 6 1/2 seams of bees in this hive. When I took the roof off this hive I found condensation on the underside. Shouldn't really affect the bees as there's insulation between then and the roof but probably doesn't do the wood much good so I used a
Weed Wand to force dry it -it's not much use against weeds.. Last up was Hive3 with it's insanely aggressive black bees. They'ed also made a start on the sugar and the pollen but not taken all the pollen. Like Hives 1 and 2 they'ed also avoided the front entrance. Unlike the other colonies which were clustered towards the middle of the hives these were clustered towards the back where it's warmest.
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| "Why are they called Black Bees?" |
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| Goth bees, good workers - very Industrial |
So that's my fourth winter with the bees. So far I've lost one colony and that was a nucleus in the protracted 2012/2013 Winter. They'ed starved despite having food stores as they wouldn't break the cluster to go get it, I suspect if they'ed had a candyboard above them they may well have survived so I'll continue to use these board for the time being. I could probably make them a lot smaller using less sugar and making it easier to get the bees out when I remove them. At the moment clearing them involves a combination of brush, smoke and patience.
It's still too cold to do a full inspection but three of the colonies are looking fairly strong whilst Hive4 I'll be treating for possible Nosema. Hive4 was on a solid floor as an experiment to see if they fared any differently. It wasn't particularly scientific and there could be other factors I'm unaware of but they're my only colony that appear to have Nosema or dysentery so I'll be sticking with open mesh floors I think. In other news I'm currently working on an out-apiary and hope to move one or two hives out there in the the next couple of months...
