Winter Hive Experiment Part 1

Deprecated: Automatic conversion of false to array is deprecated in /home1/cramfarm/public_html/wp-content/plugins/zilla-likes/zilla-likes.php on line 220

Nothing is more frustrating than coming out and finding that hive that was small or not looking so good going into winter no longer active and dead. I have even had that with removals that sometimes are performed during the colder times of year, brood production is low and then the final death blow can come from the stress and rebuilding needed after you remove a colony and place into a new home. The major factor is the energy required by the bees to rebuild but also then to stay warm enough when the temperature drops at night.

I recently was gathering up my swarm traps that I still had out to clean and prep them for the 2017 swarm season. I had 2 that at one point were active but I had not seen much in the last couple weeks and considered them both a loss. To my surprise there were bees in both boxes but their numbers were low and I could only find the queen in one. Part of me said shake em out and call it a loss but I also wanted to give it a go and experiment to see if this could turn around. Yes I could save some time and energy by just shaking them out remember that nature culls out the weak and move on, but another part of me strives to learn and experiment. The failure level was high, (and still is) but I figured the opportunity was here to try something new when it comes to colonies that are small and weak.

I decided to combine the 2 colonies into one swarm trap, each having 2 frames and a hive feeder in between. My thought was they should merge to one side or the other, be able to feed, and stay warm with greater numbers than on their own. As a little extra boost for warmth I put a 10X20 seeding mat under the box and put the temp probe in through a hole at the top of the box. I set the temp at 68 and hoped it could keep the box near 50 when the nights dipped into the 20’s.

The stage was set to give these colonies the best chance for survival now it was going to come down to time and the bees to see what happen. Part 2 will examine the first observations of this Winter Hive Experiment.