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Assembling a nest for the winter is included in the main activities to prepare bees for wintering. The formation of the nest must be carried out according to all the rules so that the insects will safely overwinter and in the spring they will begin work on honey collection with renewed vigor.
Why is it necessary to form bee nests?
Under natural conditions, bees prepare for winter properly, stocking up on enough food to last until spring. In the apiary, beekeepers take honey from the bees, constantly moving the frames, introducing themselves into their lives. In order for insects to survive safely until spring, and not die from hunger and disease, it is necessary to take care of them and assemble and form a nest.
Preparation for winter begins immediately after the main honey harvest (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.
- Reducing the scope.
- Assembling the nest.
The inspection is carried out several times in order to correctly assess your further actions for assembling and forming the nest, and to do everything on time.
Methods for forming a bee nest for the winter
The bees' housing for the winter is assembled from frames with honeycombs filled at least half with honey. Copper-free frames freed from brood are removed from the hive. Frames with honeycombs filled to the bottom with honey are poorly maintained by bees. Because of this, they can become moldy, so they are used only in multi-hull hives, placed in the upper body.
Depending on the honey reserves for the winter and the number of frames, beekeepers form a nest, arranging them according to a certain assembly pattern. There are several such schemes. Each beekeeper selects an option for assembling and forming a nest for his specific case.
Single-sided (corner)
Completely sealed frames are placed on one edge. Then they go in descending order: with half-sealed honeycombs and then with low-copper honeycombs. The trailing one should have approximately 2-3 kg of honey. This means that with a corner assembly, after the nest is formed, 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-way way - full-copper frames are placed at the edges of the nest, and in the center - with a reserve content of no more than 2 kg. No matter which direction 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, nucs and in case of insufficient food supply until spring. Full-copper frames are installed in the center of the hive, and low-copper frames are installed at the edges as the amount of honey in them decreases.According to this assembly scheme, the nest will contain from 8 to 15 kg of food.
Volachovich method
According to the assembly according to the Volakhovich method, feeding must be completed on September 20, feeding one family 10 kg of feed. When the nest is formed, there should be 12 frames with 2 kg of honey on each and two more located on top of the hive. In the lower part of the hive, honeycombs are formed into which syrup is poured.
It was noted that the location of the feed does not affect the assembly location of the winter club. Strong families form into a club when the temperature drops to +70C and are located closer to the entrance. The weaker ones form a bed already at a temperature of +120C and are located further from the entrance. After eating the honey, the bees move up to the top combs and then head towards the back wall.
How to collect a bees' nest for the winter
After the end of the main bribe, the brood gradually decreases and in early August you can determine how to assemble and form the nest based on the amount of honey and the strength of the bee colony:
- completely on honey;
- partly on honey;
- Feed the bees exclusively sugar syrup.
Only the frames occupied by bees are left in the hive; those that are free are removed during formation. Beekeepers have noted that if you reduce the nest of bees for the winter, then the honey in the honeycombs does not crystallize, the cells do not become moldy, and the bees do not die from the cold on the outer sides of the honeycombs.
The nest of bees for the winter is assembled so that individuals inhabit all the frames. When assembling, there should be empty honeycombs at the bottom. Individuals will be located in them and form a bed.
You need to make sure that the frame filled with beebread 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 identify beebread, you need to hold it up to the light - it will not be translucent. This frame should be left in storage until spring. In the spring it will be useful to the bees.
If multi-hull hives are used in beekeeping, then in preparation for winter the nest is not reduced, but the shells are removed. For the winter, beekeepers leave only 2 houses:
- the lower one contains brood and some food;
- the top one is filled with honeycombs for winter feeding.
The autumn location of the brood does not change during formation. It has been noted that when using multi-hull hives, insects eat less food and they survive in greater numbers.
When to form a bees' nest for the winter
After the bulk of the young bees have hatched and little brood remains, you need to begin preparing the bees for winter and forming a Dadan nest. By that time, the bulk of the old individuals will have died off and by the number of those remaining, it will be possible to determine the strength of the bee colony.
When carrying out the autumn assembly and formation of the nest, you need to make sure that the bees have enough warm time to pack the nest after the beekeeper has assembled it.
Simultaneously with the reduction, the bees' nest is formed in the fall. The assembly is done in a certain order in relation to the tap hole. The entrance should be in the center of the nest.
Top dressing
When assembling a hive for the winter, you should adhere to the formation rule, in which you leave frames with honey of at least 2 kg on each. Beekeepers have noted that a strong bee colony occupies 10-12 frames. Of the 25-30 kg of honey collected by insects, only 18-20 kg are left. In multi-hull hives, the entire stock is left.
Autumn feeding is a mandatory event, and its purpose is to:
- feed insects;
- compensate for the honey that a person took for himself;
- carry out prevention against diseases.
For preparation, 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 +450You can add honey in the amount of 10% of the syrup.
Insects are fed in the evening as soon as the bees have stopped flying. The dose is calculated so that by morning all the syrup is eaten. It is advisable 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, syrup is placed in the upper building, and a passage is made in the ceiling of the lower building so that the bees can transfer the syrup to the honeycombs.
How many frames should I leave in the hive for the winter?
To find out how many frames are needed for wintering, you should open the ceiling of the hive and see how many of them are not occupied by bees. Just remove that much and leave the rest.
Inspection of hives
The hives are inspected in the fall after the final honey collection. A careful examination of insects will help determine the readiness of the bee colony for wintering, formation and assembly of the nest, namely:
- how much food should be in the hive for the family to survive safely until spring;
- how insects and their queens feel;
- number of brood;
- the presence of free honeycombs for the queen to lay eggs.
During the inspection, they determine how assembly and formation will take place, what needs to be removed, and what needs to be done to save the family.
All data is entered into a statement and apiary 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 creating housing for bees for the winter, the streets need to be reduced from 12 mm to 8 mm. Empty and completely filled with honey frames are removed from the hive. Insulating diaphragms are installed into 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 will split into 2 clubs. In both cases, insects can die from cold or starvation.
When wintering outdoors or in a cold room, leave enough frames to completely fill them with bees. If the hives are moved to a warm room, then an additional 1-2 frames are installed.
Strengthening weak families in the fall
During the autumn inspection, it is necessary to determine whether the family is weak or strong in order to introduce insects in time, combining two or more families. You can strengthen a weak colony by rearranging the brood during nest formation. For example, in a weak colony there are 3 frames with brood, and in a strong one there are 8. Then 2 or 3 broods from strong bees are moved to weak ones.
Autumn growth of bee colonies
One of the main tasks of a beekeeper in the autumn is to provide strong families with many young people. They will survive the winter well and will develop quickly in the spring. Therefore, it is important that the queen’s egg production increases at the beginning of autumn, and that the brood is well fed at that time. For this:
- insulate the hives during cold weather;
- free the honeycombs for laying eggs;
- provide individuals with sufficient food;
- bees are brought out for autumn bribes.
When the growth of bees in winter becomes sufficient, it is stopped by the reverse action:
- remove insulation;
- increase ventilation;
- They do not provide incentive feeding.
You should not prolong the time of laying eggs. It needs to be completed with the expectation that the last hatch 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 for assembling and forming the nest must be completed before September 10th. This will give the bees time to transfer 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 beds to improve the conditions for their survival:
- Approximately in the middle of the frames, make a hole with a diameter of about 10 mm with a wooden stick, so that it is easier for the bees to move around in the winter club in search of food;
- to prevent the club from being located near a warm ceiling, remove the top insulation and leave only the canvas; after the club is finally secured in the chosen place, the insulation is returned to its place;
- To avoid late egg laying, ventilation is increased along with cooling the hive, and after the queen stops laying eggs, ventilation is reduced and insulation is restored.
After assembly, the nest is insulated with pillows and entrance barriers are installed to prevent the entry of mice and other rodents.
This ends the autumn work of forming a hive for the winter.It is not recommended to inspect them until spring, but only listen using a rubber tube inserted into the upper entrance, or using a special acoustic device - an apiscope. The hum should be smooth, calm and barely audible. If the bees are worried about something, you can tell 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 purpose, 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-equipped premises, where there are no problems with temperature, humidity and the penetration of rodents, hives are installed without roofs, light insulation is left on top, the upper entrances are opened and the lower entrances are closed. With little ventilation, bees eat less food, their activity is reduced, they live longer and produce more brood.
Conclusion
Assembling a nest for the winter and its formation is an important autumn event in any bee farm. Timely and correct assembly will help the bees survive the winter safely and begin the new honey collection season in full. Successful management of apiary business is in the hands of beekeepers and depends on their careful care for the bees.
