# Getting ready for winter



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I am a bit behind with the bees this year- meaning - they have had no attention for over a month. 

I have two hives that I bought and assembled this spring - added the bees this year. 

1. Every night, there is a huge body of bees having a party on the outside of one hive. They are quiet though and I have just let them be. Is this important? I opened the top cover a crack to give them ventilation. I probably need to lower it now?

2. I am in Michigan. Will the bees still make more honey this year or are we done? I noted in a different thread mention of getting ready right away. Yikes! I am used to 2 more months of summer! 

3. I am not versed about bees in winter very well. As in, we hardly had winter before. With the cold - will they stay in a ball and not feed for long periods of time? How will I know when they are out of the ball, or can I just open the top? do they come outside? 

4. I have one hive that I am sure has both honey supers full of honey. I put a super on a couple of months ago that already had the comb drawn out....Like I said, they have been neglected a tad. How many supers do I leave per hive for winter? I hadn't planned on taking any honey this year - leaving both super for winter. Am I wasting honey? 

5. I placed my hives to the south of two huge evergreens - branches clear to the ground and very thick. Will the hives need more protection than that? I can move them to the south side of my barn. I can also put up tarps...but haven't a clue as to how to do that and where to place them. I assume that the winds come from the west and north - so they have no westerly protection. How far away do I place tarps to keep the wind from going over the tarp and right down on the hives? Can I just wrap the hives in tarps?


----------



## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

Callieslamb said:


> 1. Every night, there is a huge body of bees having a party on the outside of one hive. They are quiet though and I have just let them be. Is this important? I opened the top cover a crack to give them ventilation. I probably need to lower it now?.


Perfectly normal, it's called 'bearding'. You did the right thing cracking the top cover. I'd leave it open awhile longer, until you don't see them bearding.



> 2. I am in Michigan. Will the bees still make more honey this year or are we done?


I'll leave this one for Al!  



> 3. I am not versed about bees in winter very well. As in, we hardly had winter before. With the cold - will they stay in a ball and not feed for long periods of time? How will I know when they are out of the ball, or can I just open the top? do they come outside?


You want to be sure they have plenty of stores. Al can probably tell you what's recommended for Michigan. Here in central Indiana, I like to have about 80lbs. 

On the occasional warm winter days, they'll come out for brief cleansing flights, but that's about it. They'll handle when to cluster and when not to. Generally, unless it's warm enough for them to be out flying, you don't want to open the hive. You can judge if they still have plenty of honey stores by lifting the back of the hive an inch or two. Start doing that now so you get a feel for it.



> 4. I have one hive that I am sure has both honey supers full of honey. I put a super on a couple of months ago that already had the comb drawn out....Like I said, they have been neglected a tad. How many supers do I leave per hive for winter? I hadn't planned on taking any honey this year - leaving both super for winter. Am I wasting honey?


Are you talking about two supers on top of two deeps? If so, I'd think you could harvest one of the supers as long as there's enough honey in the deeps and other super. 



> 5. I placed my hives to the south of two huge evergreens - Will the hives need more protection than that? ...I can also put up tarps... I assume that the winds come from the west and north - so they have no westerly protection. Can I just wrap the hives in tarps?


I'll leave this for Al as well. I don't think you'd want to wrap the hive in a tarp.


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

" I am in Michigan. Will the bees still make more honey this year or are we done? I noted in a different thread mention of getting ready right away. Yikes! I am used to 2 more months of summer!"


*Yes they will make more honey at this time of year. The golden Rod is just starting to bloom and the Asters have yet to bloom. I would get the honey supers off by labor day though.* 


"I placed my hives to the south of two huge evergreens - branches clear to the ground and very thick. Will the hives need more protection than that? I can move them to the south side of my barn. I can also put up tarps...but haven't a clue as to how to do that and where to place them. I assume that the winds come from the west and north - so they have no westerly protection. How far away do I place tarps to keep the wind from going over the tarp and right down on the hives? Can I just wrap the hives in tarps? "

*If the hives are about 5 to 10 feet in front of the evergreens that should be fine. But if you are worried about the west wind stack some straw bales about two high to the west of the hives about 5 feet. If you are worried about moisture you can fill a third deep with straw flakes to asorb it. I don't like to do that though just have an upper entrance so air will flow thru and keep the moisture down.*


"I am not versed about bees in winter very well. As in, we hardly had winter before. With the cold - will they stay in a ball and not feed for long periods of time? How will I know when they are out of the ball, or can I just open the top? do they come outside?"

*They will cluster in the bottom deep and start eatting their stores shivering their wings to make heat. The cluster never stops moving, with the inter bunch moving to the outside edge of the cluster and the outside going to the center. They work to gether to stay at about 94F at the center of the cluster and the outer edge down to 60F area. they eat up the frames as winter goes by. The colder the winter with steady temps seems to be best.
They will fly at (I have seem them) at 19F on a sunny windless winter day. 

We leave them totaly alone till a good warm day in Febuary. We then gather our pollen patties and quickly pop the top peek down in the hive thru the intercover hole (see why we cut out holes across the frames?) to see if we see live bees. If we see them we pop the inter cover and a quickly add the pollen patty as close to the cluster as we can. We may make a note on how high they are on the frames, so we add syrup to those first as soon as the temps stay in the 40'S if they were really high up.. *

 Al


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Many thanks from both of you!
So, does the cluster move from side to side as well as up and down to get to the honey? I don't need to worry about them as long as there is honey in the hive?

I only have 1 deep -it is better to have 2? 

Okay - so I can take honey now and they can have the goldenrod/aster honey for themselves? and the soybeans next door? and the white clover in the orchard? Should I just take one super from each hive and replace it with an empty super? These will be new supers that will need the comb drawn out. Anyway I can help them with that?


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

If you are in Michigan and only have one deep for brood and honey you are probably looking at buying more bees next spring.

Order some of those waxed wraps from Mann lake to insulate your hive. they are coragated so provide some insulation to the hive.









Felt paper will not do that. Get a second deep on them ASAP and start feeding syrup. Keep the syrup on as long as you can. They might just make it with that help.

No they don't move side to side on the frames. That fact promped a older beekeeping friend to remark one day that todays bees are stupid. He said that some years ago when warm weather arrived the bees would pull honey from surrounding frames and place it closer to the cluster.

 Al


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I have one deep and 2 supers right now - ready to add the 3rd honey super to each hive. With this info, I will add a second deep in late winter as I don't think it will do me any good at this point, will it?

I went to a local supplier yesterday to get the foundation for the 3rd honey super. The guy there said to take the 2 supers full of honey off but don't extract them. Feed the bees syrup to help get the comb drawn out on the new foundation. If they fill it with honey - I am good to go for extracting some of the honey. If not, to just replace the full supers. I planned on leaving them 2 supers full of honey for winter.

One warm days, they come out of the hive, etc. Does the cluster move at that point to another spot? Or do they always cluster in the same place? Is the cluster always there even on the warmer days? Is that how you know where to move the frames to within the hive?


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yes two honey supers can replace one deep. Adding a second deep now along with syrup feeding could have it ready for the bees by cold weather. I would place it on the bottom under the one you have now.

When it warms in the winter that the girls break cluster and make their cleansing flights and roam about the hive some. But when it chills back down they will cluster for the most part where they were because that is where the queen is.

By mid January the queen will have started laying a few eggs. If we get a long warm spell (a week or longer) she will lay a goo amount. We have several times taken a dead out apart to try and figure out why they didn't make it. Many a time they will still be in the bottom hive covering brood with full frames of honey above them and around them.

We have come to hate those so called January thaws. Get the temps in the 30F range and stay there till the end of Febuary into March, we loose less colonies when it is like that.

 Al


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

It will bee sheer luck and fortitude on the part of my bees if my hives survive this winter. It will be luck if I survive my first winter here too! I think I will take one super off - add an empty one and see what they can do before it gets cold. Or maybe I will just put an empty one above the deep but below the other supers. Just to see what they can do and try not to upset the hive too much. Today is our first sunny day in a week - but it is pretty cool. I am used to warm enough to sweat through the end of Sept. 

So how do you know where to move frames to if you don't open the hives until Feb?


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Some thing I did with great results is posted here.

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=317732

Normally we would have a month and a half of good weather yet. Is looking like Middle Oct. here the last few days but still warm enought the girls are still forageing close to the hives between showers. Frost in the forcast for tonight on this mornings weather forecast. May get the Golden Rod but the Asters are pretty hardy and may make it if the frost isn't to hard and the sun warms it up quickly. Northern Bed Straw is just starting tobloom too, it is rather hardy also.

 Al


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I read that thread - it is what gave me the idea to put the super on the bottom rather the top of the hive.

Thanks! Hope you stave off that frost for a while yet! I could see my breath while walking to shut in the chickens! I am so not used to this!


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Michigan falls are beautiful. The colors, the apple cider, pumpkins waiting to be carved, the corn being harvested and many other things.
With a good atituide winter is great. Beautiful snow falls the cross country sking looking at all the wild critters and their tracks making one pause to wonder what they had been doing. Then the spring break up arrives and all the critters from the robins to the honey bees are busy raiseing new family.

Yesterday









Last Oct.









Last Sept.









Last Dec.









Last Jan.









 Al

 Al


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Could you posts those beautiful pictures again in January? Give me a nudge of reminder of why I like Michigan so much? I am off to spend a fortune in chore boots. My little toes froze on the way to the barn this a.m. I guess I need to start wearing more than sandals.


----------



## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Al, in your January picture of the hives I see some turned on their side. Are they just there for storage and to be handy when you need them?

Do they have any frames in them and if so what's in the frames - foundation only, drawn comb? I'd think if there was pollen and/or honey you'd have problems with skunks and the like.


----------



## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

Look at the hive on the far left ,,you can see that it is just the box , no frames .. 
Callieslamb,, your summer must have been like mine here 
when I had the time to play with the girls ,, it was ,windy , or rain , or cloudy ,, or dark ,,, don't mind a few stings ( helps the arthritics in the hands ) but do not like getting the crap stung out of me .. I do like a few to sting me ..


----------



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I feed the bees with glass 1 gallon pickle jars, there free at most pizza joints for the asking. when the pickle jars are on the inter cover I place those side ways stored hive bodies around the jars and put the outercover in place. It is a good place to store them for quick and easy use when spring arrives.
I've used all those deeps up this summer so will be useing a bunch of medium supers this fall double deep.

 Al


----------

