October In The Apiary
It’s been a great month. When I have gone to look at my bees they have been buzzing around the hives in their hundreds. Recent video below.
Insulation
I started October by insulating the roofs (less air space for bees to warm) and putting the Bee Cosies on as it was getting down to 2C at night (though 19C in day). I wish I had done this earlier for the hive in the field as it had dwindled to 5 frames and struggled to take down syrup. I gave them a solid floor insert to keep them extra warm. Condensation will escape through the ventilated roof as Bee Cosy is breathable.
Feeding
Feeding continued. I was aiming a 15Kg spring balance weight on each side of the hive. (Those without Bee Cosies might want to consider 18Kg). The bees have been very active and have achieved more than 18Kg/heft on 2 of the hives. The weak hive in field weighs 9Kg and 12 Kg. Fingers crossed for this one. Will give fondant later in year.
Varroa Treatment
I had treated all hives with Apiguard in August – but that still gives them two months to keep reproducing and increasing their populations. I counted in October and the strong hives in the allotment had high varroa counts. The Beebase varroa calculator, calculated I had 520 and 600 mites in those hives (30 mites in the weak, field colony). As the temperature was still more than 10C in the day, I gave each of the high varroa count hives one MAQ strip each. I’ll count again in November.
Active Bees
Here they are last Sunday:
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The hives look warmer than you 🙂
Amusing end to that video!