Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Winter wrapping is a lost art. For some reason, we've gotten away from those prac-
tices, though winters are not much different now than they were then, global warming
not withstanding.
There is a multitude of ways to offer winter protection for your colonies. Provide a
wind break of evergreens, or a temporary break of landscape burlap, fencing, or straw
bales. Wrap the colonies in roofing felt paper to provide wind and water protection,
leaving the bottom open for cleansing flights. Use the commercially available materials
to wrap and protect your colonies, or create something similar. Long ago, beekeepers
put a large box around each hive, and then filled the empty space with sawdust. You can
do the same with home insulation.
A winter wrap will help the winter cluster so they can move to a new spot with food.
Even a strong colony with lots of food cannot survive if they can't move to a place with
lots of food (even if it's just the next frame).
Keep good ventilation in mind, a top and bottom entrance available, and ease of
installing and removing. Put these protective materials on after the bees have formed
cluster in the late fall, and leave them on until they can easily fly every day in the spring.
Winter Feeding
It has to be warm enough for the bees to break cluster in order to feed. If they can't
move, they can't get to the food you provide. They'll need at least an hour, or two or
three, of an internal temperature approaching 40°F (5°C). This isn't too uncommon on
a sunny, still day, even when the outside temperature hovers around freezing.
Fondant, made from table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, makes an excellent emer-
gency winter food. It can be sliced and put in food storage bags until needed. It has the
consistency of medium-hard butter. When placing it on the colony, cut one side of the
bag corner to corner in an X shape so that the bees can get to it. It is all sugar, so you
know how much you fed, and the bees relish it.
If the forecast is for continued cold, liquid syrup won't do much good. Even if they
can get to it they'll need to remove the water, a nearly impossible task in the cold. At a
time like this, they need solid sugar. You can put regular table sugar on the inner cover
in an emergency, poured all around the inner cover hole. They may take this, they may
ignore it, or they may even carry it outside as waste. It can be a gamble.
