Happy St. Stephens Day!
Here in Central Illinois, it was a balmy 55 degrees. A great day to check on the bees.
So glad I did as this hive was not flying and my other hive was very active and flying.
Once I opened the hive, they flew a lot...mostly at me!
This colony had a candy board on it, which did its job since I put it on in mid-November. Sot it was time to replace it with a Krabbie Pattie. I'm very hopeful that this experiment will take my bees through the winter and make them hardy and healthy for the spring. So I'm going to take you through the process one more time, and then report back on what differences I see on my next post, which will be on a different subject, but will include a short update.
Here in Central Illinois, it was a balmy 55 degrees. A great day to check on the bees.
So glad I did as this hive was not flying and my other hive was very active and flying.
Once I opened the hive, they flew a lot...mostly at me!
This colony had a candy board on it, which did its job since I put it on in mid-November. Sot it was time to replace it with a Krabbie Pattie. I'm very hopeful that this experiment will take my bees through the winter and make them hardy and healthy for the spring. So I'm going to take you through the process one more time, and then report back on what differences I see on my next post, which will be on a different subject, but will include a short update.
With this hive, the bees had consumed most of the board, as you can see from the photo. My one fear with the candy board was that it did not allow the hive to "breathe" enough. That is, before I put it back on the hive, I'll drill a few holes in it to allow moisture to escape.
The advantage with the candy board is that you don't have to put any additional spacer (e.g. a super box or half-super box) to accommodate the fatter pattie.
The advantage with the candy board is that you don't have to put any additional spacer (e.g. a super box or half-super box) to accommodate the fatter pattie.
For this hive, I added a pattie along with a honey super.
I put the pattie on a wire fencing so it acted as a fence because I thought it gave more support to the pattie. I over-did the water\syrup on this one and it was more soupy than I wanted and never did firm up. So the cage worked to spread the weight and moisture along the full length of the bag.
I put the pattie on a wire fencing so it acted as a fence because I thought it gave more support to the pattie. I over-did the water\syrup on this one and it was more soupy than I wanted and never did firm up. So the cage worked to spread the weight and moisture along the full length of the bag.
I wadded up the newspapers and put those into the super on top of the pattie because it fills the void and absorbs moisture without adding a lot of weight to the hive body.
Lastly, I placed the caged pattie on the hive. The wire mesh helped keep the bag from crushing bees but still was rigid enough to distribute the product.
I then put the papers on and put a lid on the whole thing, with a nice heavy brick to keep the lighter-than-usual honey super from blowing away.
That's my latest! I'll probably reload the candy-board and swap that out later in the winter or early spring. Meanwhile, my next Krabbie Pattie (probably late winter) will have some protein in it, which will give the bees a boost going into egg-laying.
That's all from my view around the hive this week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
tim
I then put the papers on and put a lid on the whole thing, with a nice heavy brick to keep the lighter-than-usual honey super from blowing away.
That's my latest! I'll probably reload the candy-board and swap that out later in the winter or early spring. Meanwhile, my next Krabbie Pattie (probably late winter) will have some protein in it, which will give the bees a boost going into egg-laying.
That's all from my view around the hive this week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
tim
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