Last pass through the hives before we get into Winter. I had feeders on all four hives up through October 7th. Each hive seems to have a solid medium of honey on the top box. The Misty nuc is heavy on top. All of the hives are loaded with bees. Pretty much solid from side to side and front to back.
I bought a five pound box of fondant just to see how setting it up in the hives works for early next year when I ay have to feed them. This worked great on the Bees Rules hive and the Utah hive where I put my home built vivaldi boards (they have a 3/8 inch spacing on the bottom). It also worked out well on the Tardis hive which has a feeding shim in place for pollen patties (works great for the fondant as well). Unfortunately, trying to fit the fondant between the top bard and the inner cover on the Misty nuc there was not enough room. Into the garage to make a nuc sized feeding shim. A couple of scraps of 3/4 pine, a little work on the table saw, some glue and a couple of staples solved that problem. I’m glad I tried it out before February.
I also loaded up the top of my vivaldi boxes by filling a burlap bag with pine shavings and scrunching the full bag into the box. I installed moust excluders on the entrance reducers of the Bees Riles and Tardis hive. As the day warmed up the bees didn’t seem to be too fond of the unexpected restriction so I pivoted them out of the way. I’ll put them back in place when the bees stop flying later this month.
I removed the screened bottom boards and replaced them with solid bottom boards. All of the hives get a bit pissy when I work on the entrances. I wonder what I’m doing wrong here. I started putting the foam insulation on the brood boxes, but the bees were still agitated from my playing around with the entrances. I’ll have to finish this task up later in the month as well.
So all the hives have strong populations, have lots of food, have been treated for varoa, and are set-up for winter feeding. Must bee ready for Winter.