“But bees could be provoked to build more storage comb before that.”
I do not have any spare brood box ready and frames, so I might be late this year to get them prepared. But I will give that a go next year.
EDIT:
Speaking of frames, maybe I should just let everyone know what an idiot I am. Since I only have one hive, and only needed to prepare four frames, the other four being supplied with the nuc, I decided to cut corners.
I read somewhere that fishing line can be used to wire frames, instead of stainless steel wire with out the need of a jig. So I got myself some heavy duty fishing line and ‘wired’ the frames up. They came out a treat.
Until the bees decided to chew them! Now I am weary the comb will fall off the frames when inspecting. Damn!
Hi Arthy, just to add my 2 bobs worth to the discussion. It’s worth remembering that the better insulated a hive is during winter, the less honey the colony will use in order to survive the winter. Also keep the entrance reduced & facing away from prevailing cold winds. I read that you are in an urban area. The bees will always find something in urban areas, as a general rule.
cheers
Ha, the unwired frames will be fine if the bees have drawn to the bottom bar.
I left the Fframes on the strong colonys last winter but will not do so this year due to mould issues. I have a 2nd brood box so store issues, for me, are not an issue. Most seem to be intending to leave them on around here but I’d like to clean them up for next year.
I will drain them all keeping the unripe honey for either mead or feed it back early spring. I’ll remove when the brood nest begins to contract.
Happens to the best of us The goal is not to stay that way.
People here reported successful use of fishing line before…
I make several frames a year and cannot justify making or buying a jig too. I use steel wire. I have wide enough bar clamp to “pinch” frame sides, then pull wire as tight as I can by hand. When frame released from the clamp straitening sides draw wires even tighter.
@JeffH, thanks for the tips. I’m semi urban, more than urban here. 2km radius around me is 50% native bush, and 50% houses mostly on bush blocks. I have some polystyrene in the roof cavity, but that’s about it as insulation goes. Our winters although a bit colder than coastal suburbs, are still relatively mild. I can’t grow anything much that requires a chill factor.
My entrance is 90mm or so, and have been like that from the start, should I reduce further?
@Skeggley, I like your ideas for unripe honey. Mead is on the bucket list.
@ABB, I have a clamp and 0.5mm galv wire, and will give that a go. Excellent!
My hive entrance is tapering from about 9mm (inside) to 12mm (outside) high, What I refer to as “depth”, would be the thickness of the box wall, about 20mm.
That depth sounds good. With that depth, the entrance could be little bit wider, maybe 120mm during the warmer periods.
@Peter48 has recently purchased some poly hives which gives greater insulation & he found a great improvement during hot weather The bearding was eliminated. Therefore he should also notice an improvement during the winter.
Think of honey as fuel the bees use to warm the hive during winter. With us, the better insulated our houses are, the less fuel we need to keep them warm.
It’s something we should consider when it comes to working out how much honey to leave the bees with for the winter.
Our winters are not extremely harsh that we can’t briefly take the lid off on a warm day just to monitor the honey stores. Then we can feed them if we think they need it.
Will it last much? I thought it would rust in a hive environment, and honey being fairly acidic.
I bought a 500g stainless steel roll for about $11 delivered, from eBay. It think it was cheaper than the equivalent galv steel wire from Bunnings, if you don’t mind waiting 3-4 weeks until it comes from Xi Jinping.
Stainless steel wire will last a life time. Gal wire won’t last that long but as it is coated with wax when you in-bed the foundation to it then it shouldn’t rust as air is eliminated and no honey against the wire. I did some frames using gal wire I was given some years ago and there has been no issue so far, but I use SS wire myself.
Cheers
The goal is not to stay that way.