Hive Mistake & Minimalist Beekeeping?

Beekeeping - Basics
, ,
1

Asking for a friend! :folded_hands:t2: My two questions are:

  1. should I just leave the hive alone so that they keep honey stores for winter?

  2. do I truly need a bee mentor?

Maybe I shouldn’t have done this but I used foundationless frames. I needed more recently so I got regular frames that don’t have the little piece of would in the center as a comb guide and I put cardboard in instead. It seemed to do the trick. I did a check in recently to see how the bees were fairing and when I started to pull out one of the frames I noticed there appeared to be honeycomb breaking. I’m not sure if it was falling out from the top of the frame or if they had built it strangely and it was connected to the frame next to it, but either way it was breaking. I know to pull it straight when there’s no foundation, I wasn’t tilting it. So I stopped and placed it back and didn’t pull out any more frames. Should I just leave them now so they keep stores for winter? I’m afraid to do more checks and break more comb, waste their honey again, and make extra work that sets them back. I’m wondering if it’s better to just leave them alone and let them do their thing so that they keep stores for winter. Whatever is going on in the hive, they are building comb and making honey and there are lots of bees at the entrance all the time. So things seem like they’re on a good track.

This leads me to my second question: As you may know, there’s a lot of judgement towards people who have flow hives. I also want to continue with foundationless frames. And I am very interested in minimalist beekeeping so the bees aren’t disrupted all the time (perhaps not a popular idea but one I’m interested in nonetheless). I’ve heard from people who say the bees know what they’re doing - stop checking them so much. For all these reasons, I’m afraid to get a mentor. Has anyone just forged ahead alone and succeeded in a region that has cold winters? My bees died last winter, so I want to make the right decisions here. It was an extremely harsh winter though and even experienced beekeepers in my area lost hives. So, perhaps next winter won’t be so bad.

(This summer I ended up with “minimalist beekeeping” on accident because I had a baby right after getting my bees in May and I had an extremely difficult recovery and wasn’t able to do any hive inspections. I finally was able to do an inspection a few weeks ago, and that’s when the comb broke. I do know I need to treat for varroa mite and I am going to put the strips in).

1 Like
2

Hey Carolyn,

Winter preparation is critical in cold climates. The bees need plenty of honey stores to get them through to spring. Don’t leave the Flow super on though or you’ll have problems. They need their stores in standard frames. Also, it’s very important to start winter with low mite levels. Do a wash and treat if required.

I recommend every new beekeeper has the right mentor for at least a couple of years. It speeds up your learning curve and reduces your colony losses. Not everyone has access to one, though. Join a club for hands on guidance and a community that can help you grow as a beekeeper.

“Bees know what to do”. Well, yes… and no. Like all things beekeeping, there is rarely one definitive answer to any question.

We force our bees to live in a poor substitute for a tree hollow. The tree hollow that they would choose has walls at least 4” thick, providing exceptional insulation. The “base” and “roof” are so thick, the R value is off the chart. They have one small entrance through which they perfectly regulate the inside climate, and guard against predators. When brood comb gets too old, they move the brood to new comb, then wax moth cleans out the old comb giving the bees space to draw new comb. That which we regard as a pest, works as an ally.

Under such good conditions, the colony can thrive for many years, or they can perish with a heavy mite infestation or extended dearth. That’s life.

Then there’s the tree hollow substitutes we provide. No worthwhile insulation, massive entrance, screened bottom and pathetic roof. The winter cluster you may have heard about is a survival stress response. It is an energy expensive desperate effort to stay alive. In a proper tree trunk, such stress doesn’t exist. It’s easy for them to stay warm. How much would your heating bill be if your house had single layer 3/4” walls? Bees running out of honey is like us having the power switched off. But they can’t buy some more,

Some beekeepers help by wrapping the hive to improve insulation. Some hives are made with insulative materials such as polystyrene. An improvement, but still a poor substitute. In parts of Europe, the hives are placed in bee houses where the entrances are the only exposure to the outside. Inside, the conditions are comfortable for both bees and beekeepers, in all seasons and all weather.

By forcing our bees to live in substandard housing, we are obliged to compensate and that requires regular intervention. Inspecting for pests and disease, cycling out old brood comb, swarm management, providing adequate resources for winter or dearth and so on. Sure, you can leave them to their own devices. Just be prepared for the inevitable losses.

In the right conditions, it is possible to be treatment free. Better designed hives, mite resistant bees, reliable nectar and pollen flows help a lot, but losses are still inevitable. There are exceptions, of course. But it’s not an easy path.

Mike

1 Like