As temps have been steadily dropping and its been rainy/windy I decided to close the opening of the upper box with a little plastic plug:
Saturday Nov 20 after a night of snow:
Maybe 25-30 dead bees on the landing board and in the snow around.
The mead is all bottled and mellowing in the wine cellar. For thrift and convenience sake it was put into beer bottles of various sizes, 36 bottles in all.
It is potent stuff! I wish I had taken a hydrometer reading at the beginning to get an idea of the %alcohol, but I didnt. Anyway its some pretty good stuff and will provide many opportunities to toast the bees. Thank you bees!
Jah bless them and keep em warm and safe through the winter.
hi there... the mead is indeed awesome and wonderful and ancient... cheers & thanks!
ReplyDeletei am not too sure about that upper plug, i don't think it's good, unless there still is an upper entrance, under the lid, right?
We should also put an couple of lil' shims of wood on the bottom as an entrance reducer on the bottom, and cut down on the drafts. here is something i found on an 'overwintering' page:
On a nice day late in the fall you will have to go through the hive and possibly re-arrange the frames so that the winter stores are above, and to some extent to the sides of, the brood nest (that is, what had been the brood nest; most brood rearing should have ceased by this time). Any empty combs should be below the brood nest. Be sure to install a mouse guard/entrance reducer in the bottom entrance.
Bees generate humidity, and in the cold weather this moisture rises. It must be vented from the top of the hive, so be sure there is an upper entrance. It need be only the size of a nickel. If you use a migratory cover (basically a piece of painted plywood, held in place with a brick or two) you can cut a 3/4” wide grove, 3/8” high, in the middle of one side; this will let the moisture out. If you have no upper entrance, the moisture will condense inside the hive and drip back onto the bees, chilling them -- not a good situation.
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usually, there will be some dead bees around the bottom (and we can slide out the bottom board and shake it off, still, too)and they will still try to take out the bodies and dump them, but let me know if it seems like there is an on-going massacre.
i looked at tar paper today to wrap them (they say that's good for keeping out moisture, and warms with the sun) but home depot only had very large rolls. i might spring for one if i can apply it to my shed roof as well, but if it's not necessary, i will look for a smaller sheet of it.
hope your crew is well, greetings to all...
best,
-=pj=-
heya!
ReplyDeletethere is an upper entrance under the telescoping cover, i just checked to make sure it is open and ice free.
i was surprised to see bee parts scattered on the board, as if they had been torn apart. maybe in the cold their bodies become brittle and they break into pieces as they are being hauled out. its not very many so im not alarmed, just curious.
i think we might have a piece of tar paper to wrap the hive in, i'll look around for that roll, and ill think about making an entrance reducer.
Jah bless!
Hello. Where's the sample Mead???
ReplyDelete