10-18-2021 Planning Commission Packet

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Food Reserves Estimating Food Reserves 40 • Determine whether a colony has adequate food reserves for winter. This is a good time to practice the hefting skills you have honed over the summer. 75-100 lb of honey are required and 3-5 frames with pollen are desirable (the gross 3-deep hive weight should be 180-200 lb). As a deep frame holds about 8 lb of honey, a colony should have the equivalent of 10-13 completely full frames of honey stored. If a frame is not completely jam-packed full of honey, do not count it as a full frame since having 10-13 full frames of honey is not the same as having 10-13 partial frames of honey. Frames that are full of honey are easier for the bees to winter on than frames that are partially full. Full frames mean the bees have a shorter distance move in order to reach food when it is very cold outside. • Determine whether the winter honey reserves are properly located in the hive. The top hive body should have 8 or 9 frames full of honey. The middle hive body should have another 2 to 5 frames full of honey. • It is often difficult to determine whether there are adequate pollen reserves, because pollen can be stored under honey. An insufficient amount of pollen is remedied by feeding pollen substitute and/or supplement in early spring, when the queen begins laying eggs again after a winter hiatus. Do not feed pollen in late summer or fall when the bees are winding down their brood rearing for the season. It is important to follow the bees' lead: they stop rearing brood in the fall in order to retain protein and lipids in their adult bodies to survive the long winter months. Pollen patties stimulate brood production; do not stimulate brood production in the fall. Feeding Colonies in Fall • If a colony does not have adequate honey stores by mid-September (75-100 Ib) you can feed them to try to bring them up to weight. Feed heavy syrup (2:1 sugar syrup). Stop all feedings by mid-October, because the bees will likely not have time to condense and store the syrup after that date. • One gallon of 2:1 sugar syrup contains about 8 lb of sugar. If your colony is 24 lb short of the ideal • winter weight, feed 3 gallons of 2:1 sugar syrup. • Don't feed your bees between November and March. Opening a colony and disturbing it when the temperatures are cold is not a good idea. Dry sugar or "winter patties" are not an efficient nor effective way to sustain colonies in northern climates. It is easier on you and healthier for the bees if the colony stores sufficient honey during the summer months, or obtains sufficient wintering weight though sugar syrup feeding by mid-October. Winter Cluster and Inspections Honey bees cluster to maintain heat in the winter. They form a cluster when outside temperatures are below 45-50°F. Unlike humans, they do not heat the "home"; they only heat the cluster space they occupy. They have a very efficient Words of system of keeping heat within the cluster. The cluster expands and contract as outside temperatures increase and decrease. When expanded, the cluster will Wisdom move as a unit to new frames in the hive in order to always have direct access to stored honey. It is difficult for individual bees to leave the cluster to find sugar feed placed on top of the colony.A bee survives only a few minutes on her own at temperatures below 40°F. We recommend that you do not feed or check your bees until temperatures are at least 50-55°F in late winter or early spring. As a rule of thumb, avoid removing frames from a colony if the bees are not flying (<50-55°F).Any bees that fall off a frame or crawl out of a box may not make it back into the colony. If it is below 45°F, don't open a colony for more than a few minutes, because it disrupts the heating system in the cluster. Never open a colony or remove frames if the temperature is below 35°F. • Beekeeping in Northern Climates 50