With the onset of cold weather, beekeepers need to take care of bee hives. In mild, warm winters, you can leave insect houses outside. Low average daily temperatures, strong winds and high humidity force the owner to arrange a winter hut for his charges. Knowledge of the nuances of wintering bees in a cold room will allow you to preserve the colonies of striped workers without loss.
What is wintering?
After finishing collecting honey, wild bees begin to prepare for the cold weather.They expel drones from the nest, store honey and beebread, and seal the cracks with wax and propolis. Young and some mature individuals remain for the winter. The main task of a bee colony in winter is to preserve the queen. Domestic bees act in a similar way, only purebred insects are less adapted to survive in winter conditions, and they need human help.
During the winter, bees do not hibernate; they huddle into a tight ball (temperature inside is +35 °C), lose mobility and use significantly less food. Insects increase in size and stop excreting feces.
The density of the lump depends on the ambient temperature - the lower it is, the denser the lump. The individuals inside do not sleep, they actively move, retaining heat, and periodically change places, giving the insects of the outer layer the opportunity to warm up.
For normal wintering of insects, several conditions are necessary:
- No excess humidity. Bees tolerate it worse than cold, and mold may appear in the hive. The honey begins to ferment, and the striped inhabitants of the hive begin to starve.
- Ventilation in the room. It prevents moisture from accumulating and the bees do not suffer from lack of air.
- Silence and lack of bright light. Noise and bright lighting destroy the bee colony.
- Sufficient amount of feed. Over the winter, a ball of bees eats up to 25 kilograms of honey and 4.5-5 kilograms of bee bread.
- Protection from rodents.
They rarely check how bees hibernate, after 1.5-2 months of wintering, so as not to disturb the insects. This is done using a rubber tube or a phonendoscope. Through the entrance they listen to noises in the hive. The presence of a calm, even noise is a sign of the good condition of the bee colony. Weak, intermittent, quiet, with the plaintive buzzing of individual insects - a sign of lack of nutrition.A booming and angry sound is a sign that rodents have entered the hive.
Preparing for winter
It begins long before the onset of cold weather. At the end of August, the hives, the bee colony and the condition of the queen should be examined. The number of worker bees and brood and the age of the queen are taken into account.
Nest assembly
If necessary, weak families are united. Bees are treated with “Bipin” against mites. Remove old honeycombs. In good weather, insects fly over as late as possible to empty their intestines. Check the quantity and quality of feed. The hives are insulated if the insects are planned to winter outside.
Procurement of feed
Choose light-colored honey containing a minimum of honeydew. The average bee colony needs 8-9 sealed frames of honey and 4-5 kilograms of bee bread for the winter.
The entrance should be in the center of the nest. The frames with food are placed perpendicular to the tap hole. There are:
- one-sided assembly - 1 frame contains 3 kilograms of honey, 2 - 1.5, 3, 4, 5 - 2 kilograms, 6 - 2.5 kilograms, then 3;
- double-sided - frames with 2 kilograms are placed on both sides of the entrance, 3 kilograms are placed at the walls of the hive on both sides, middle frames are 2.5 kilograms;
- beard - rarely used, when saving feed, frames with 2.5 kilograms of honey are placed in the center, then 2 kilograms, then the fullness of the frames is further reduced.
Providing peace
There should be no windows in the hive barn; they are covered with sheets of foam plastic or polystyrene. Install a red lamp for illumination. The room must be soundproofed.
The hives are installed in rows, in 2-3 tiers, the bottom row is 35-40 centimeters from the floor.The floors in the barn are insulated with sand, straw mats or leaves. Weak families are placed on the upper tier.
Important: you cannot place them close to the walls; there must be at least 10 centimeters to it.
For ventilation, the lower and upper entrances are opened. They protect from rodents with mousetraps and barricades on the hives. They enter the room quietly so as not to disturb the bee colonies.
When to remove bees?
Bees are brought into the room at a stable sub-zero temperature. Depending on the region, this is done from mid-November to early December.
How to keep bees in winter
It depends on weather conditions. The hives are left outside, a canopy is built for them to protect them from the wind, and they are placed in a garage, barn, attic or cool, dry basement.
In the wild
Bee houses are left in the apiary during mild, snowy winters. The sides and roof of the hives are lined with foam or polystyrene to prevent the insects from freezing. Snow on the roof of the house provides additional thermal insulation.
In the winter hut
Often a separate room is built for bees, but families can also be housed in a house, in a cleared and insulated attic. Conditions of detention and placement are exactly the same as in a barn. Insects need to be provided with darkness, silence and good ventilation in the absence of drafts.
Bees are adapted to survive winter with minimal losses. Only sick and old insects die. If the beekeeper has done everything right since the fall, taken care of his honey farm, in the spring he will receive strong families and high productivity of striped workers.
