Bees in winter
The wintering of bees is divided into two periods: the first – rest, which lasts until the appearance of brood (mid-February – early March); the second – the pre-spring, to the setting of bees from the winter hut or their flight.
It should be remembered that with the approach of the end of winter, the conditions for the life of bees are deteriorating. They quickly fill the hindgut, which largely depends on the quality of the feed. If the honey is not frozen and benign, the amount of feces in the gut is less.
Of great importance are the temperature and the relative humidity of air in the winter hut. When the temperature decreases, the bees consume more food to produce heat. If it is very high, they also worry and eat more feeds. Intensive nutrition leads not only to over-consumption of feed, but also increases the cost of enzymes (protein substances), increasing their deficiency in the body, which weakens insects. As a consequence, the life of bees is shortened – they become physiologically aging and, in the presence of other negative factors, may die in the winter or early spring, and fail to fulfill their most important function – the rearing of the brood.
Feeding brood, bees lengthen the life of the family, shortening their own. It should be borne in mind that brood appears earlier where there is any irritant that causes concern bees, for example, in families that winter just the sky. In this case, the stimulus is frequent, if not sharp, temperature changes, especially for small families.
That’s why they badly hibernate in the open air and even die.
When visiting a winter hut or listening to a family at will, care should be taken to ensure that the bees are fed. Their shortcoming is complemented by putting honeycomb with honey to the club of bees. Place it on the upper bars of the frames, putting 2-3 wooden sticks with a pencil in
The increased noise of bees may indicate the presence of a mouse in the hive.
This can easily be established by obtaining a scuff from the bottom of the hive. In such cases, it has heads, wings, or other parts of the body of the bees, which are not full of the mouse, as well as pieces of the honeycomb. It’s necessary to catch or drive the mouse immediately. If the honeycomb is destroyed, it is better to transplant the family in a non-cellular hive. Do this when there is enough fodder, in the presence of brood in winter, which threatens the existence of the family. If bees have diarrhea, they should be overpowered in the absence of a honeycomb, adding fumagiline or another drug to the syrup.
In winter, the hives are being repaired, other works are being performed, which will not have time in the spring.
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