Content
- 1 How do bees winter in nature?
- 2 Advantages and disadvantages of wintering bees outside
- 3 How to keep bees outside in winter
- 4 How to prepare bees for wintering outside
- 5 How and when to insulate colonies when wintering bees in the wild
- 6 Wintering bees without insulation in the wild
- 7 Wintering bees outdoors in huts
- 8 Peculiarities of wintering bees in the wild in Siberia
- 9 How to prepare bees for wintering outside in the Moscow region
- 10 Death of bees in winter: causes and possibilities for eliminating them
- 11 Inspection of hives in winter
- 12 Conclusion
In winter, bees gain strength and prepare for active spring work. If earlier beekeepers tried to keep the hive indoors for the whole winter, recently wintering bees in the wild has become a practice. If certain rules are followed, it is possible to provide the most comfortable conditions for insects. For these purposes, special attention is paid to preparatory activities.
How do bees winter in nature?
Insects are active during the warm season. In winter, bees huddle together to keep each other warm. This allows them to cope with the cold without problems. At the apiary, the beekeeper takes care of preparing the hive for winter. In nature, bee colonies most often spend the winter in the hollow of a tree. They store nectar and feed on it throughout the winter.
Wild bees do not leave their hive in winter, as they are not able to tolerate exposure to low temperatures. At the end of autumn, insect metabolism gradually slows down.The need to empty the intestines completely disappears. This allows you to stay in the hollow for a long time without flying outside.
Advantages and disadvantages of wintering bees outside
Before choosing a method for housing bees, you need to familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of wintering outside. The advantages include:
- bees return to work ahead of schedule;
- the strength and strength of the bee family increases;
- savings for the beekeeper on time and money without the need to build a winter hut.
The disadvantages of wintering outside include increased food consumption. In this case, it is necessary to make significant reserves. If insects have any problems during the winter outside, the beekeeper will not be able to help them. For this reason, the risk of family death increases.
How to keep bees outside in winter
To make it comfortable for bees to winter outside, they should be provided with the necessary conditions. Initially, preparatory work is carried out. These include insulating the hive, providing bees with food and ventilation. An important step is the preparation of feed. The energy of the bees depends on its quantity and quality. Lack of energy leads to insufficient heat production, which provokes hypothermia and further death.
How to prepare bees for wintering outside
Preparing bee colonies for wintering in the wild involves strengthening the health of existing individuals and raising young ones. At the beginning of autumn, the hive is treated with a solution against mites. You should also prepare sugar syrup in advance. To prepare it you will need:
- 2 kg sugar;
- 1 liter of hot water;
- 1 tsp.acetic acid.
Cooking process:
- The components are thoroughly mixed and put on fire.
- The syrup should be cooked no more than 15 minutes after boiling.
- After removing from the heat, put the fertilizer aside to cool.
For wintering, it is better to place the hive in a quieter place. It is also necessary to assess the condition of the hive. If the family is strong enough, about 8-10 frames are left in it. Old damaged structures are removed or replaced with new ones. If the family is weak, then it is combined with another group of bees.
How and when to insulate colonies when wintering bees in the wild
Preparing bees for winter outside includes the process of insulating the hive. In a strong draft, the bees die. But this does not mean that you need to carefully seal all the openings in your home. In this case, the insects will suffer from lack of air. Therefore, it is important to ensure proper ventilation when bees winter outside. To do this, the upper entrances are opened slightly. To insulate a bee house, it is recommended to use one of the following materials:
- polyurethane foam;
- plywood;
- straw;
- unnecessary clothes;
- polyethylene;
- expanded clay;
- Styrofoam.
The bee nest is placed near trees and bushes. They help protect the hive from cold winds. The inside insulation of the hive is a frame. The insulation is fixed from the outside using any available method. It is important that the hive is located at a sufficient height from the ground. This will provide protection from rodent attacks and ground freezing. When a snowy winter sets in, snow walls are built around the hive to insulate it.
Wintering bees without insulation in the wild
Wintering bees in the wild under the snow is considered the easiest.First, the hive is covered with some material that prevents snow from getting in as it melts. The next step is to cover the bees' home with plenty of snow. The advantage of such wintering is the early activation of insects, immediately after the thaw. The disadvantages include the impossibility of using this method in regions with snowless winters. Snow covers the bee's home from cold winds. But if it melts prematurely, there is a possibility of flooding the hive.
Wintering bees outdoors in huts
Housings are structures for wintering bees, consisting of a roof of shield walls. The walls are made of untreated boards and slabs, the thickness of which varies from 20 to 25 cm. Small gaps are left between the boards. They provide oxygen to the hives.
The bee colony is planted in casings in early November. Supports filled with dry leaves are placed in the apiary area. The hives are placed on linings in 2 rows. The entrances are located on the outside. Layers of slate are placed on top. Using snow, they form a wall and cover the roof with it. The ventilation holes remain intact. The advantages of wintering outside in shelters include:
- good ventilation;
- smoothing out temperature fluctuations.
Peculiarities of wintering bees in the wild in Siberia
The preparation of bees for wintering in the wild in Siberia does not have any pronounced differences. It is believed that when located outside, bees tolerate low temperatures more easily than stuffiness and lack of air. The most common way to insulate a hive in this region is under the snow. The most important thing is to protect the hive from cold winds. For successful wintering, it is enough to carefully insulate the bee’s home and cover it with snow.Since the snow in Siberia does not melt throughout the winter, there is no need to constantly monitor the condition of the bees.
How to prepare bees for wintering outside in the Moscow region
In the Moscow region, bees survive wintering outside without any problems. Due to unstable weather, you should not count on snow insulation. It is necessary to carefully insulate the bee's home and prevent dangerous diseases.
The peculiarities of the climate of the Moscow region include a high probability of mold formation on the walls of the hive. To prevent its occurrence, you should increase the space under the frame. This will allow air to enter the hive in the right amount.
Death of bees in winter: causes and possibilities for eliminating them
During wintering outside, the likelihood of bees dying increases. Initially weakened families are in the high-risk category. In some cases, external factors have a depressing effect on bees. The family can also be destroyed from the inside under the influence of fungi, mites or infections. To avoid mass death of insects, you should properly prepare them for wintering. Possible causes of sick bees include:
- poor ventilation;
- diseases;
- rodent attacks;
- poor choice of location for the hive;
- sudden change in climatic conditions;
- lack of food.
The best way to deal with bee deaths is to properly prepare their home for wintering outside. For each hive you need to leave at least 25 kg of honey. The main criterion when choosing nectar is its quality. It is equally important to sanitize the hive against varroatosis, nosematosis and acarapidosis. It is equally important to patch all holes, which will eliminate the possibility of rodents entering the hive.
The most common diseases characteristic of the winter period include nosematosis. The reasons for its occurrence are:
- the presence of honeydew in honey;
- pesticides entering the hive;
- sharp temperature fluctuations.
If the death process has already begun, it is almost impossible to save the insects. The likelihood that the beekeeper will detect the problem in time is too low. In this case, the bees are taken from the street into the winter hut and their home is completely rebuilt. If the queen dies, the family is united with another, stronger swarm. In order for the family to accept new bees, the rehousing process is carried out with extreme caution.
Inspection of hives in winter
If the beekeeper has taken care in advance to create favorable conditions for bees to winter outside, frequent checks of the hive are not required. In this case, it is advisable to monitor the temperature in the bee house 2 times a month. You should also monitor the air flow by monitoring the position of the ventilation holes. At the end of winter, it is necessary to increase the frequency of visits to 1 time per week.
The condition of insects can be judged by the sounds coming from the hive. To do this, you need to carefully hit the surface of the hive. A fading hum indicates a prosperous state of affairs in the home. If the noise does not stop, it means the uterus is dead. If a slight rustling sound is heard, it means there is a lack of food.
It is important to pay attention to death in the hive. If there are individuals with chewed wings next to it, rodents periodically visit the hive. Swollen abdomens of insects indicate the spread of the disease. Increased noise may be a sign of dry indoor air.Placing a water bottle behind the insert board will help solve this problem. A wick made of cotton material is lowered into it. The other end of the wick is placed over the tuber so that the bees have access to water.
If the prepared food for the winter is not enough, it is necessary to fertilize with honey. The frame with it is placed in close proximity to the ball of bees. An alternative to honey can be thick sugar syrup. It is poured into honeycombs, replaced with new portions as it is consumed.
To avoid the establishment of wax moths in the hive, the honeycombs are slightly frozen. In this case, it is enough to cool them to about -6 C°. This method is considered effective, regardless of the stage of development of the moth.
In the spring, it is necessary to free the hives from unnecessary fences and frames. It is necessary to create conditions for the bees to fly outside for the first time. You should also clean your home of any dirt that has accumulated over the winter.
Conclusion
Wintering bees in the wild is a natural but risky process. Only strong families will be able to survive this period without losses. The beekeeper's task is to insulate the hive and provide the necessary amount of food for the winter. If these conditions are met, the bees survive until spring without any problems.
