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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, JULY 2017
HIVE MAINTENANCE OVER WINTER ABOUT THE APIARY
Frank Lindsay, Life Member
We’ve had a good run of weather during the last month, interspersed with a few cold spells. This has allowed bees to fly on the really warm days, bringing in a little pollen and nectar.
Things to do this month Sort out old combs and render them down. However, it is more prudent that these old combs are burnt as they contain pathogens and varroa treatment residues. Best to get them right out of the system. Purchase new frames. Use your own recovered wax to coat your plastic frames: a great indoor winter activity! Recent changes by the larger-scale beekeepers to using prickers instead of uncappers has seen a dramatic reduction in wax available to convert into foundation. If you can’t get wax, put in starter strips to encourage the bees to draw down comb when the flow starts. Make up new gear (bases, roofs, split boards, etc.) ahead of spring—it’s just around the corner now (only twomonths away). Check your hives after storms. Order spring queens. Winter also is a time to get a little education. Telford Rural Polytechnic has great correspondence and short courses. It’s unusual to see some wasps still flying. Those willows that still have a few leaves have enabled the willow aphids to feed, reproduce and produce honey dew. With the forecast of a warm winter, the aphid numbers may not reduce, so some wasp nests may overwinter. Not what we want, but that’s nature. Hive losses to wasps are higher this year in some areas. They haven’t been taking the poison protein bait but are attacking hives instead. In the urban areas where there’s plenty of asphalt, you can see the odd pōhutukawa flowering over perhaps a quarter of the tree. Other natives are flowering out of season due to radiated heat. Inside the hive this month, the bees that ceased brood rearing more than a month ago will start warming up an area in the middle of the brood nest for the queen to start laying—the new season has begun. From now on, the bees gradually will start using their stored honey and pollen. It’s been interesting talking to beekeepers from different regions. Up north, the bees are flying well and hives are expanding in number thanks to good pollen sources. Further down south, the bees mostly remain in the hives all day as it’s too cold to fly. Some beekeepers are still feeding. If yours are, make sure that the inside of the hive is relatively dry, with condensation only around the outside of the rim on the underside of the crown board. If it’s too wet, lift the board a little more to increase the airflow through the hive.
Keep an eye on mite numbers. A collapsing hive nearby can take an apiary out in a month through reinvasion. Some may have to re-treat.
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