Contents
Assembling a nest for the winter is one of the main activities for preparing bees for wintering. The formation of the nest must be carried out in accordance with all the rules, so that the insects can safely winter and in the spring with renewed vigor begin to work on the honey collection.
Why build bee nests?
Under natural conditions, bees prepare for winter properly, stocking up enough food to last until spring. In the apiary, beekeepers take honey from bees, constantly move the frames, penetrating into their lives. In order for insects to live safely until spring, and not die of hunger and disease, you need to take care of them and assemble and form a nest.
Preparation for winter begins immediately after the main honey collection (in late summer – early autumn) and includes several activities:
- Inspection and assessment of the condition of the bee colony.
- Determining the amount of honey needed for the winter.
- Feeding individuals.
- Frame reduction.
- Nest assembly.
The inspection is carried out several times in order to correctly assess their further actions for assembling and forming the nest, and to do everything in time.
Methods for forming a nest of bees for the winter
The assembly of bee housing for wintering is made from frames with honeycombs filled with honey at least half. Copperless frames freed from brood are removed from the hive. Frames with honeycombs filled to the bottom with honey are bad for bees. Because of this, they can become moldy, so they are used only in multi-hull hives, located in the upper housing.
Depending on the stocks of honey for the winter and the number of frames, beekeepers form a nest, placing them according to a certain assembly pattern. There are several such schemes. Each beekeeper selects the option of assembling and forming a nest for his particular case.
One-sided (corner)
Fully sealed frames are placed on one edge. Then they go in descending order: with half-sealed honeycombs and then – with little copper. The trailing one should have about 2-3 kg of honey. This means that with a corner assembly, after the formation of the nest, there will be from 16 to 18 kg of honey.
Double sided
When there is a lot of food for the winter and the family is strong, the formation of the nest is carried out in a two-sided way – full-copper frames are placed along the edges of the nest, and in the center – with a stock of no more than 2 kg. Whichever way the bees go, they will have enough food.
Beard
The scheme for assembling a nest of bees for the winter with a beard is used for weak colonies, nuclei, and in case of an insufficient supply of food until spring. Full-copper frames are installed in the center of the hive, and low-copper ones along the edges as the amount of honey in them decreases. According to this assembly scheme, from 8 to 15 kg of food will be in the nest.
Volakhovich method
According to the assembly according to the Volakhovich method, top dressing must be completed on September 20, feeding 10 kg of feed to one family. In the nest, when forming, there should be 12 frames with 2 kg of honey on each and two more, located on top of the hive. At the bottom of the hive, honeycombs are formed into which the syrup is poured.
It is noted that the location of the feed does not affect the assembly site of the winter club. Strong families form into a club when the temperature drops to +70C and are located closer to the notch. Weaker ones form a bed already at a temperature of +120C and are further from the entrance. While eating honey, the bees rise to the top combs and then head towards the back wall.
How to build a bee nest for the winter
After the end of the main flow, the brood gradually decreases and in early August it is possible to determine how to assemble and form a nest by the amount of honey and the strength of the bee colony:
- completely on honey;
- partially on copper;
- feed the bees exclusively with sugar syrup.
Only frames occupied by bees are left in the hive, free ones are removed during formation. Beekeepers noted that if you reduce the nest of bees for the winter, then the honey in the combs does not crystallize, the cells do not get moldy, the bees do not die of cold on the outer sides of the combs.
A nest of bees for the winter is collected so that individuals sit around all the frames. When assembling, empty cells should remain at the bottom. Individuals will be located in them, and form a bed.
It is necessary to ensure that the frame filled with perga does not end up in the center of the nest. Otherwise, the bees may split into 2 clubs and some of them will die. To determine the bee bread, you need to look at the light – it will not shine through. This frame should be left in stock until spring. In the spring, it will come in handy for the bees.
If multi-hull hives are used in beekeeping, then in preparation for winter, the nest is not reduced, but the housing is removed. For the winter, beekeepers leave only 2 houses:
- the lower one contains brood and some food;
- the top is filled with honeycombs for winter feeding.
The autumn location of the brood during formation does not change. It is noted that when using multi-hull hives, insects eat less food, and they survive in greater numbers.
When to build a bee nest for the winter
After the main part of the young bees hatch, and there is not much brood left, you need to start preparing the bees for wintering and forming the Dadan nest. By that time, the bulk of the old individuals will die, and by the number of those remaining, it will be possible to find out the strength of the bee colony.
During the autumn assembly and nest formation, care must be taken to ensure that the bees have enough warm time to pack the nest after the beekeeper has assembled it.
Simultaneously with the reduction, the formation of a nest of bees is carried out in the fall. The assembly is done in a certain order in relation to the notch. The letok should be in the center of the nest.
Additional fertilizing
When assembling a hive for the winter, one should adhere to the formation rule, in which frames with honey of at least 2 kg are left on each. Beekeepers noted that a strong bee family occupies 10-12 frames. Of the honey harvested by insects in the amount of 25-30 kg, only 18-20 kg are left. In multi-hull hives, the entire stock is left.
Autumn top dressing is a mandatory event, and its purpose is to:
- feed insects;
- compensate for the honey that the person took for himself;
- carry out disease prevention.
For cooking, they take fresh, not hard water and high-quality sugar. Prepare according to the following instructions:
- Boil 1 liter of water.
- Remove from heat and add 1,5 kg of sugar, stir.
- After cooling the syrup to +450With you can add honey in an amount of 10% of the syrup.
Feed the insects in the evening as soon as the bees have stopped flying. The dose is calculated so that all the syrup is eaten by morning. It is desirable that the food be warm, but not hot or cold. It is poured into wooden feeders located at the top of the hive, or into special plastic or glass drinkers.
In multi-hull hives, the syrup is placed in the upper housing, and a passage is made in the ceiling of the lower housing so that the bees can transfer the syrup to the combs.
How many frames to leave in the hive for the winter
To find out how many frames you need for wintering, you should open the ceiling of the hive and see how many of them are not occupied by bees. That’s how much to remove, and leave the rest.
Inspection of the hives
The audit of the hives is carried out in the fall after the final collection of honey. A careful examination of insects will help determine the readiness of the bee colony for wintering, the formation and assembly of the nest, namely:
- how much food should be in the hive so that the family lives safely until spring;
- how insects and their uterus feel;
- the amount of brood;
- the presence of free cells for laying eggs by the uterus.
During the inspection, they determine how the assembly and formation will take place, what needs to be removed and what should be done to save the family.
All data is entered into the statement and bee log.
Reducing the number of frames
The number of frames depends on the number of bees. A strong family needs more of them than a weak one. When forming the housing of bees for the winter, the streets must be reduced from 12 mm to 8 mm. Empty and completely filled with honey frames are removed from the hive. Insulation diaphragms are installed in the nest on both sides, narrowing it.
If you leave everything as it was, then there is a possibility that the bees will settle where there is no food, or they will be divided into 2 clubs. In both cases, insects can die from cold or starvation.
When wintering in the open air or in a cold room, enough frames are left for them to be completely filled with bees. If the hives are transferred to a warm room, then an additional 1-2 frames are installed.
Strengthening weak families in autumn
During the autumn inspection, it is necessary to determine whether the family is weak or strong in order to add insects in time, uniting two or more families. A weak colony can be strengthened by rearranging the brood during nest formation. For example, in a weak colony there are 3 frames with brood, and in a strong one – 8. Then 2 or 3 broods from strong bees are moved to weak ones.
Autumn build-up of bee colonies
One of the main tasks of the beekeeper in the autumn is to provide strong families in which there are many young people. They will tolerate the winter well and develop quickly in the spring. Therefore, it is important that the egg-laying of the queens increases precisely at the beginning of autumn, and the brood at that time is well fed. For this:
- insulate the hives during the onset of cold snaps;
- free combs for laying eggs;
- provide individuals with sufficient food;
- bees are brought out for autumn harvest.
When the build-up of bees in the winter becomes sufficient, it is stopped by reverse actions:
- remove heaters;
- enhance ventilation;
- do not give incentive feeding.
Egg laying should not be extended. It must be completed with the expectation that the last withdrawal of bees will have time to carry out cleansing flights on warm days. Then the intestines will be cleansed and the likelihood of diseases will decrease.
Caring for bees after nest formation
All preparatory work on the assembly and formation of the nest must be completed before September 10th. This will give the bees time to transfer the honey to the nest and form a club.
There are several techniques that some beekeepers use at the final stage of forming a nest of bees for the winter in sun loungers to improve their survival conditions:
- approximately in the middle of the frames, a hole with a diameter of about 10 mm is made with a wooden stick, so that it would be easier for the bees to move around in the winter club in search of food;
- so that the club is not located near the warm ceiling, the upper insulation is removed and only the canvas is left, after the club is finally fixed in the chosen place, the insulation is returned to its place;
- so that there is no late oviposition, together with the cooling of the hive, they increase ventilation, and after the uterus stops laying eggs, they reduce ventilation and restore insulation.
After assembly, the nest is insulated with pillows and barriers are installed against the penetration of mice and other rodents.
This concludes the autumn work on the formation of a hive for the winter. Until the very spring, it is not recommended to examine them, but only to listen with a rubber tube inserted into the upper notch, or using a special acoustic device – an apiscope. The hum should be even, calm and barely audible. If the bees are worried about something, it can be understood by their hum.
With the onset of constant cold weather, the hives are brought into the winter hut. Now the beekeeper comes there to check the temperature and humidity in the room. For this, thermometers and psychrometers are located in the winter hut, in different places and at different levels.
The hives are arranged so that the cores with queens are in warm places, and the strongest colonies are in the coldest part of the winter hut.
In well-maintained premises, where there are no problems with temperature, humidity and penetration of rodents, hives are installed without roofs, light insulation is left on top, upper and lower entrances are opened and closed. With low ventilation, the bees eat less food, their activity is reduced, they live longer and hatch more brood.
Conclusion
Assembling a nest for the winter and its formation is an important autumn event in any beekeeping. Timely and correctly carried out assembly will help the bees safely survive the winter and fully begin the new honey collection season. The successful conduct of business in the apiary is in the hands of beekeepers and depends on their reverent care for the bees.
