# Winter Stress -- on the novice beekeeper



## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Every time I go out and look at the snow piled up on my hives it bothers me. I did everything I could to winterize the hives, and now it's just a waiting game to see how many of them survive. This is killing me. I keep thinking there's something else I could have done to increase their chances of survival.

Do the rest of you northern beekeepers have trouble keeping bees through the winter? Is it as bad as my local beekeeping association folks keep telling me? 

I love my bees. I don't want to have to start completely from scratch in the spring.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

as long as they dont get asphixiated the snow can help insulate them
they also need plenty of food


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Our winter loss advrage is 23%. Last year many folks lost many more than that. We had monsoon rains from mid Sept. till late Dec. along with higher than normal temps. Many colonies just flat starved from not being able to gather in the golden rod and asters, and bee keepers just could not see the girls were in trouble.
We fed for 4 months last year and a little over a month this year.
Is cold now and they are not in the least active like last year.

 Al


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## Batt (Sep 8, 2006)

Bees as a species have survived for thousands of years. If you have done the best you could, then you have done your part...or more. Relax, this isn't the first winter or the last.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Well, that's all good advice and I thank you. I need to just sit on my hands now and wait until spring and see how it goes. If it comes to the worst, then I'll be asking for advice in the spring on how to start up some colonies again.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Ernie, I'm stressing out too. I should have fed our bees a LOT more than I did. I didn't really know what to look for in a hive getting ready for winter, and I wasn't checking the hives often enough. I looked once and they had lots of good honey storing going on. Then I checked a month later and NOTHING. 

The warm weather went on for so long here that the bees stayed active. But it was so dry that the flowers weren't producing any nectar (so said my beekeeper club members). They had to eat their stored honey before winter even set in! I started feeding like mad but I don't think they had time to put up adequate stores. 

Well that's absolutely no help to you whatsoever, except for the fact that you know you're not the only one fretting.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

anybody in the same boat with light bees might try a bakers drivert sugar fondant
the problem with sugar syrup in the winter in the bees getting all the water out of it. drivert sugar makes a very thick mix that the bees will eat up anytime i know dadant carries bakers drivert sugar i buy mine through costco
but by the pallet.im doing some feeding tomorrow i will try and get some pics.

you can also feed dry but i dont like this as much as the bees tend to clean
it out (and not eat)if it is very dry weather but great in wet weather.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Try this if you think the girls are light on stores.

Candy Board
Use: Winter feeding.
Recipe:
The formula for the fondant candy supplied by Dr. Roger Hoopingarner
15 lbs. sugar
3 lbs. white corn syrup
4 cups water
Â½ tsp. cream of tartar
(smaller quantities can be made using the ratios above)
Dissolve the sugar in water and stir while heating the mixture to 240 degrees F. Let the syrup cool to about 180 degrees F., then beat until thickened and pour into the board ( like an inner cover with higher sides and no hole) to harden. Once the candy is hardened boards can be put onto the colonies candy side down over the top frames. Some beekeepers pour the candy into wax paper lined molds and then put these blocks on the frames while the inner cover is placed, with the deep side down, over them. Make the blocks no thicker than the depth of the inner cover rim. 

I'm working on a form so I can pour it in frames.

 Al


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

drivert fondant for feeding light weak bees the freezer bags are 1 gallon
put 4 pounds of drivert into freezer bag the coffee tin is about perfect for this
add 10 oz water gently mix in the bag being carefull to remove air from bag as you kneed the mixture the mixture volume will decrease leaving air in the bag get all this out.











a perfect candidate for fondant feeding very little honey stores and weak if i was going to feed sugar syrup to this hive internally in winter i would only
give it half a feeder full and i would move the feeder right next to the bees
because they would likely not travel across 3 or 4 cold frames to get to it.











place the bag on the frames under the bee cluster and cut a slit in it
open the bag up some to allow entry of the bees.if you have a lot of bur comb you may need to srcape of to make room for the fondant bag












bakers drivert can also be fed dry if you have humid conditions just keep
it toward the back of the hive so that they dont clean it out before it starts
sucking up the moisture from the air. both fondant and dry are good ways
to feed to cut down on robbing but you cant mix in your fumagilan or fumabil b for nosema controll.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Ernie,
If you had strong hives and they had plenty of winter stores, you should be okay. Go give them a QUICK check in February to see if they have food left.

Even if the colony doesn't make it, you're not really starting all over. You still have the drawn out foundation that gives you a head start over a brand new hive.


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