Since the bee season had not yet started, we met digitally in 2 online workshops in February and March and brought our knowledge together.
Winter prep
The final treatment against Varroa around Thanksgiving seems to be particularly important for the survival of bees in winter, as is feeding.
If you want to take an academic approach, weigh your equipment – I have also started doing this and will add my work-in-progress-list in the photo galery.
If the bees consumed around 6.6pd per month, you should feed 5.2gal from August to October. On warm winter days, you can use the weight check (tilt check) to determine how much feed has been consumed and feed more if it is really necessary.
Perhaps there is someone who would like to do this with me next winter. I’ll keep you posted.
Spring Clean-Up
Last but not least we talked about spring clean-up, especially removing old dark combs and varroa control with drone frames.
To do this, place an empty frame with a bar in the middle in position 3 (see picture) in the hive. This division will allow you to cut out the more developed comb sooner. Remember that mites prefer drone brood for egg laying. Forgetting to cut out the drone combs can significantly increase the Varroa population.