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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers
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Re: [ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal
- From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
- To: John Rintoul <beecd AT icloud.com>, Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal
- Date: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 10:10:50 -0400
John,
Just a few cents worth of observations, certainly others may have more: 1) We've got several weeks/maybe a month left of the fall nectar flow (goldenrod and asters), so hopefully your stores will grow a little bit farther before the end 2) By November, unless you are feeding over the winter, you need enough stores to last until the main flow starts in April 3) You need empty space in the hive not only for food stores but also for the queen to lay. If she is a well-educated queen, she'll slow down laying in November and stop in December, but will start back up again in JANUARY. She lays while the hive is still in winter cluster. If you only have enough room for stored food, you won't have enough space for her to lay in late winter. That's why, in my opinion, overwintering in single deeps is insufficient. Many folks overwinter with a deep and a medium, but I prefer to use 2 deeps to allow the queen's laying to bust out in late February/March. (This is all based on 10-frame equipment -- adjust for 8-frame to equal the same square footage of comb space.) 4) If you see "a few" small hive beetles, around here that just means you keep bees. Don't worry about them unless you see lots of them, and go ahead and panic if you see SHB larvae. See the OCBA archives for many posts about how to deal with them proactively. I was a little confused about the question about "how to control small hive beetles when varroa control is not required." Varroa treatments do not affect SHB at all. Treating for one has no relation to treating the other. Randall Austin On 10/3/2014 5:14 PM, John Rintoul wrote: 36351F66-3E1C-457C-908F-27A28ED4C219 AT icloud.com" type="cite"> I’m looking for a little over-wintering guidance for my colonies started at the end of May. My weak hive seems to have pulled things together during the fall nectar flow, but I would welcome input from experienced beekeepers. |
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[ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal,
John Rintoul, 10/03/2014
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Re: [ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal,
Randall Austin, 10/04/2014
- Re: [ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal, Lewis Cauble, 10/04/2014
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Re: [ocba] Overwintering stores - how much is optimal,
Randall Austin, 10/04/2014
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