Extreme Weather Preparation

[Dawn_SD]

@Martha

Should I smoke the bees

No reason not to. They shouldn’t need much though.

@Martha

now some is stuck and I can’t easily relocate it

Not quite sure what you mean, but many people put an imirie shim on top of the top box, just below the inner cover, then put the patty on top of the top bars. That way the bees don’t have to leave the warmth of the main hive to get the food.

Spacer Shim

I have an 8-frame version of this, which would also work well:

10 Frame Wintering Inner Cover

@Martha

Should I have put the fondant on wax paper

You can certainly do that, and some commercial fondants come with a baking parchment wrapping, which you can leave on. The bees eat through and toss out the confetti.

@Martha

dry sugar on top for a quick feeding

That is fine too.

@Martha

pollen patty next to some fondant? Should I?

You could, but I wouldn’t give it to them until about January. You don’t want a population spike in midwinter, which the patty can stimulate. Then you would have tons of bees munching the food even faster and overcrowding the hive when they can’t get out to poop.

[Martha]

The stuck part was that I placed the fondant on the bare wood of the vivaldi board and the dry board sucked out some moisture of the fondant and it’s stuck. I didn’t want to roll bees trying to dislodge it hence smoke. My vivaldi boards have an exit and ventilation holes so the shim isn’t necessary in my set up. Thanks! I think I see a few 8 frame shims in my future for my hives when not in winterized mode.