The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, but for honeybees it is not an ending — it is a turning point. Long before spring arrives, the lengthening of daylight begins to guide what happens inside the hive.
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Winter Solstice & Honeybees – What do bees do on the shortest day?
BEEKEEPING TIP: What to do With Old Brood Frames
Go through every box of frames and scrape the propolis of the lugs. Assess each frame and place in the appropriate pile. Frames that belong in the good pile are those that can be put straight into a hive next season, both foundation and drawn comb…
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Feeding Bees – Winter & Spring
Late winter and early spring is the time of year when honeybees are most at risk of starvation. It is therefore of utmost importance that beekeepers are vigilant and check their colonies for stores and feed if necessary. Read on to learn how to give emergency feed to bees in winter and spring.
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Honey Bees in Winter – Do Bees Hibernate?
Each winter, I marvel at the astonishing ability of our beloved honeybees to withstand the weather. To survive, and to thrive the coming season as if the winter had been but a doddle. But what really happens inside a beehive in winter? Do bees hibernate? Let’s look into the hive and uncover the secrets of their winter survival.
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Wax Moth Treatment
The greatest threats when storing drawn comb for longer periods of time are mice and rats, mould, and wax moth. In this article I will guide you through how to perform effective wax moth treatment before putting boxes of drawn comb in storage for winter.
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Cleaning Beehive Frames and Equipment
Clean frames and comb are nicer to use than old, dirty ones. But that is not the reason we should endeavour to keep our frames clean and the comb fresh. Both frames and comb, as well as other hive equipment, can harbour a wide range of organisms known to negatively impact honeybees.
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Feeding Honeybees – What’s the Buzz?
The type of feed given to honeybees can be divided into three categories: Post harvest or autumn feeding. Emergency feeding. And stimulative feeding.
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Beehive Insulation, Condensation & Ventilation
In winter and spring you will often hear beekeepers talk about beehive insulation, condensation and ventilation, and the different ways in which a hive can be set up to deal with the issue of dampness in the hive. While many novice beekeepers worry about the cold, more experienced beekeepers know that it is the dampness that can cause real damage to a colony of bees in the winter. But why is this and how can we deal with it?
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How to Render Beeswax
Processing beeswax is quite simple and reasonably straightforward. But only as long as you follow certain guidelines and resign yourself to the fact that it is nearly always a bit messy and there will be a good deal of waste.
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