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A few years ago I attempted to winter half my hives in single boxes. That winter we had not one, but two heavy ice storms. The apiary was in a remote area and I was unable to get there to dig them out and as a result I suffered tremendous losses. Both doubles and singles were smothered by ice blocking the vents.
I am toying with the idea again of wintering singles. Some keepers overwinter nucs so singles should do alright. Right ? My question to my fellow keepers is - has anyone here in Atlantic Canada succeeded in wintering single hives ?
I would appreciate your input. Please don’t tell me it can’t be done if you have not tried it. I want to here from those that have tried. Of the surviving hives that winter, a single was the strongest one that spring. I split it three ways.
Sterling
Hi Sterling, Overwintering in singles, Ross, our past president of the CBA said he does that. You should contact him. He said it has been successful.
We have overwintered in singles a couple of times, but that was just because there was a colony that was too small to go in a double, but it had a good queen so we didn’t want to combine. As far as I recall, the singles survived both times but that’s about all they did — just survive. Numbers had dwindled to no more than a handful of bees around the queen, and it took some borrowing from other hives to get them up to strength to get through the spring.
That suggests to me that a lot of it has to do with how strong the colony is when you put it away for the winter - the stronger the better - but also I’d think the trick would be to try to get some feed out to those singles early in the spring when there’s nothing much in the way of forage for them, because a single doesn’t have much room for stores.
Sterling,
Chris Maund just reminded me about what Vickery has to say about wintering in singles:
The following is from “The Honey Bee a Guide for Beekeepers” by Vernon R. Vickery. His book deals with beekeeping in eastern and Atlantic Canada. He discusses wintering single colony packs, multiple colony packs, row packing and packing on blocks. When discussing multiple colony packs, he mentions that when colonies are packed together they have fewer walls exposed to external conditions. He states: “The heat produced by one colony will assist in heating others. The winter cluster is usually less compact and is able to move more easily to make use of food stored anywhere in the hive.”
Spoke with Ralph L. on the weekend and he winters all his hives as singles with good success but as we all know Ralph L. is an excellent beek. I have had success, and failure, so what have I got to lose, or gain. As soon as the weather permits I will be downsizing to singles. Thanks for the comments everyone.
Sterling Clark
Has anyone switched to 4.9 mm cell size? I see fully drawn small cell (plastic) is available in the U.S.A. Let us know how you made out.
They had 4.9 mm small cell foundation at Maugerville - don’t know if it was drawn-out kind or not, or if they still have it. But wasn’t Dave McK been doing some work with small cells? I don’t know of anyone else in central NB who has been using it, but maybe we can find some info from other areas…
More info on small cell foundation - this article may be of interest:
Trial of HoneySuperCell® Small Cell Combs (Draft 11/10/07) by Randy Oliver at ScientificBeekeeping.com.
I’m doing some research on typical wintering losses (year/location, average/location, or range/location. Would anyone have any info to share on their experiences. The reason I ask for location is that i assume it would vary with location (weather patterns, etc.)
Thank you in advance for any assistance.
Hi DJ
I would be willing to help you any way I can. I am (again) experimenting with some hives, some packed together, in rows, a couple by themselves, and a couple I have not gone near all winter to see how they do with no help. I live just about in the middle of New Brunswick and we get weather of all kinds.
Sterling
Our hives are nicely tucked up in 3+ feet of snow (20 minutes upriver of Fredericton, NB) so no idea yet of how we made out. Some were out flying on a rare nice day a couple of weeks ago, however, so we’re hoping for the best…
Hi all,
Hope everybodys bees are doing well this winter. I just got back from digging out one of my yards in Centerville. the hives there are completley buried under at least a foot and a half of snow. I have dug them out 3 times this winter. With the weather forcasted in the coming week, it looks like i will be busy digging until about june… Will it ever end?
Regards,
Tony
When you say “digging out the bees” you really aren’t kidding around, are you, Tony? Thanks so much for sharing your photographs! I’m sure that Spring will come along one of these days… :)
Ha ha… i got a pair of snow shoes for christmas this year. At the time i thought “There is no way i will ever use these”, but they have come in pretty handy after all.
I am amazed at the amout of snow this year. I moved from Belleisle to Florenceville a little over a year ago, so we are not used to the winters in the northern part of the province… but neither are the locals this year!
This is the first year for the yard in the pictures. Obviously i could have found a better spot… looked awesome when it was green!
In the short term one of my biggest fears with the holes i have dug is one of those heavy rains, like we have been getting recently. I am afraid it may run off of the frozen crust and into the hives!!!
Tony
Third-worst winter for snow in 134 years here in the Fredericton area, according to the CBC radio this morning!
WANTED: To purchase: Bee Pollen Powder Food Supplement for Station One Reg’d Kennels. Requirements: we are looking at approx. 1.5- 2.0kg per week.
If you can help or refer us to someone who can please contact us:
Station One Reg’d Kennels, 206 Adair Rd, Sussex, NB (506-433-6601). Our website is http://www.dogcatbreeder.com. Email is stationonekennels@gmail.com.
We had wanted to post this under your Buy/Sell area but couldn’t find where to register or do this.
Thank you for your help.
Here is fine for posting your notice, M. Gladstone.
Beekeepers and their customers are also welcome to send in their Buy/Sell ads by email, and we will be happy to post the legitimate ads on the site. When ‘just anyone’ could register to write their own post on the website, however, it brought a flood of offensive junk ads you really wouldn’t want your kids to see! That’s why there is no site registration to let the ‘general public’ become contributors.
I intend to start beekeeping this year, after having toyed with the idea over the last few years - and having researched it and been to a few CBA meetings.
I am looking for some used equipment, though may buy new hives on the recommendation of Chris Maund, unless someone is willing to sell everything including healthy bees, that is!
If anyone hears of someone selling their bees/equipment, I’d be interested to hear - or appreciate you forwarding my contact info.
Best wishes and see you at the April CBA meeting!
James Whitehead
457-2199(h) 260-2037(c) jamesw@stu.ca
James, good to hear that you’re taking the plunge!
The reason why Chris would have suggested buying new equipment is because of the risk of “buying someone else’s problem” in terms of infected equipment. Naturally, used equipment must be inspected before sale, but the human eye can’t see Nosema spores or Foulbrood - only the telltale signs of dead brood in combs and “bee scat” splatters on the equipment surfaces.
Personally, if I were to start over, I would bite the bullet and spend the money for fresh new equipment, to give the bees the best possible start in life.
That said, bee disease is a fact of life, and if you are careful about where you get your equipment, used gear is certainly an option. Country Fields Beekeeping Supplies website has a couple of pages in their Beginner info that might be helpful to you in making the decision: Painting and Preparing Equipment and Used Equipment - Safe to Use?
Can anyone recommend a solution to what I think has become a large problem? We discovered last fall that we have a (large) hive of honey bees living inside the south side of the frame of our house. Entry is somewhere at the meeting of first floor brick and second floor aluminum siding, right beside the chimney. Thankfully we have never seen a honey been inside the house. This winter during a warm thaw day (yes, there were a couple!) there were MANY honey bees out flying around. We live in Thornhill, suburban Toronto; there are neighbourhood children, we have a granddaughter who visits; neighbourhood cats and dogs. No-one has suffered (yet) because of these bees, but this is now much too big, I am afraid. I don’t want them living inside the frame of the house. I understand from chatting with Rebecca on-line that even if we went the “pest control route” there may be other “beasts” that move in after the bees are gone, because of the honey…. Does anyone have any suggestions/solutions?
Update: I’d suggested to Lilian that she contact the Ministry of Agriculture there in Ontario; she reports that they were able to put her in touch with a beekeeper in her area. Lilian, if you check back in… want to drop a note and let us know how you made out?
The Ministry of Agriculture helped with one name; that beekeeper and I had a good chat. He confirmed that its going to be hard work and very expensive to remove any nest under aluminum siding. He also gave me the name and number of another beekeeper. His information was also helpful.
It may be best to kill the bees with soapy water (no pesticide) which will cause them to suffocate. No matter whether a pesticide or soapy water is used, we will still have the problem of honey in the wall…. and I don’t know what we should do about that.
The weather is now more spring-like; on warm sunny afternoons the bees are out. And my husband will be calling the exterminator probably in the next couple of days! The verbal advice has been helpful, but I’m afraid the problem isn’t resolved. And I will have a bigger problem if I don’t act soon. It’s been good chatting with you.
Lilian.
Hi Lilian, thanks for giving us an update. I know you were wondering what the implications are of possibly leaving the honey and wax in the wall of your house, after the bees are killed or removed. Your beekeeper contact is quite right that this is not a small job.
I have found a couple of useful web pages that explain the whole situation rather well. Note, however, that these are both American websites — so please ignore any recommendations about pesticide use. Canada has its own standards and health/environment laws regarding the registration and application of various pesticides, and those aren’t necessarily the same as in the United States. Otherwise, you should find the information here to be useful:
• Controlling Nuisance Honey Bees - University of Kentucky Entomology
• Removing Honey Bee Nests - University of Florida IFAS Extension
Thank you for the two American resources for information. We’ve proceeded today with a powder insecticide which may need to be reapplied (as described in one of the articles). We will at some point be cleaning the nest, honey etc., out of the wall. We are sad to kill pollinators like these honey bees but they’ve picked a spot dangerous for people and animals, and bad for our home. The first dusting was done today.
Hoping your bee and honey season is a great one.
Thanks again.
I have a honeybee hive in my house that I would like not to poison….does anyone know of any beekeepers in the Moncton or Hillsborough area that might be interested in helping me take out the hive. You can have it!!
Thanks!
To find a beekeeper in the Moncton area, your best bet would be to check with the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association (http://nbba.ca/) to see who among their members live in that area, or check in at Country Fields Beekeeping Supplies (http://www.countryfields.ca) in Upper Coverdale — they’ve got a pretty good hanndle on what’s going on up your way, where our group is way down here in the Fredericton area.
First things first, however! Before you call in a beekeeper, do have a look at this chart (http://www.ebeehoney.com/honeybees.html) and make sure it’s really honeybees you’ve got sharing your space.