1. EMBA Beekeepers
Late Winter – Early Spring
Management of Overwintered
Colonies
www.slideshare.net
Grant Gillard - Holden, MO
Gillardhoney@gmail.com
March 10th 2021
7. “Your purpose in keeping bees will
guide your management practices,
as well as your intensity and how
much time, energy and money you
want to invest.”
You do you.
I’ll do me.
8. Advice on Advice
Advice is just an opinion
based on experience.
We all have different experiences.
Opinions will vary.
9. Advice on Advice
The beginners lament: “Just tell me
the best way to keep honey bees.”
Is there a right way?
Yes! Whatever way works best for
you.
18. The Greatest Joy in Beekeeping
“Real success is finding a live hive
coming out of winter
and into the spring.”
(So what do I need to do to
insure my colony’s survival?)
19. “The condition of the bees
in the spring is directly related
to how the hives
were prepared for winter.”
--Monte Richardson
Past-President MSBA
2nd Generation beekeeper
Warrensburg, MO
20. Fall Prep for Winter Survival
Four Targets:
Strong population (6-8 frames of brood)
Young productive queen
Ample stores for winter (40# - 60#)
Healthy colony (mite management)
**less for Russian and Carniolan bees
21. Mid-September Evaluation
• Combine weak colonies into strong
Weak will probably die out
Strong colonies can use the resources
Other option: pull frames of honey and
brood from strong and give to weak
(equalizing)
(why are weak hives weak?)
22. A relevant observation
Some hives just
won’t, don’t or can’t make it.
“Failure to thrive and survive.”
Put your time and energy
into the hives that show
promise and potential.
23.
24.
25.
26. Observations
Cost to insulate = $16 - $20 per colony
Fall of 2019 Winter of 2020
80 hives
Spring of 2020
Lost 8 hives
27. Anecdotal Findings
• The majority of the lighter hives with
insulation unexpectedly survived
• Some of the stronger colonies without
insulation unexpectedly died
• Concession: There are many variables
28. My thought process
“The cold doesn’t kill colonies; it’s the
moisture (implying condensation).”
Conclusion: condensation is a problem
when the hive is poorly insulated.
Remember: Bees heat the cluster and not
the environment.
29.
30. Coming out of winter…
• Did your hive survive?
• If not, why not? What went wrong?
• Post-mortem forensics (CSI)
Cluster too small
Starvation (robbed out)
Mites (viruses)
Don’t know/can’t know
No blame—focus on proactive
Reinforce best management
31. Stimulus Patty
• 8 cups of sugar (4# bag)
• 4 cups protein (AP23 from Dadant)
• 1 cup liquid cooking oil (canola or olive)
• 32-oz bottle of light corn syrup
• 2 tbl of Honey-B-Healthy
• Mix in a bucket with electric drill –
(too sticky for kitchen mixer)
32.
33. Three big scenarios
1. All your hives died
2. Some of your hives died
3. All of your hives survived
34. 1. What if all your hives died?
1. Sell your equipment
--give up and move on
2. Buy replacement nucs and packages
3. Catch a swarm (free)
--swarm lure in dead colony
--leave it right on the stand
35. Good News
• “There will always be beekeepers who sell
bees. You either have to learn how to manage
your bees or you pay for nucs and packages as
replacements.”
• “The only way to stay in the bee business is to
simply not quit.”
--Kent Williams, Kentucky beekeeper
36. Packages
Earlier availability
Drawn comb provides a jump
Lower cost – still expensive
Can be shipped
Nucs
Higher cost
Queen accepted and laying
Picked up and not shipped
37. Local Nucs
Many local beekeepers will make nucs.
Many will offer helpful advice.
The value of belonging to a
local bee club.
38. 2. What if some of your hives died?
1. Go with the live hives,
ignore the dead hives
3. Buy replacement nucs and packages
(or hope to attract a swarm)
3. Split/divide the live hives to refill dead hives
a. Buy mated queens – mail order
b. Raise your own queens
39. Simplest Way to Requeen
1. Make a “reverse” split
Take the existing queen and
25% of the frames from the live hive
Move it into a nuc or single
2. Let the 75% queenless portion raise
“emergency” queen cells
40.
41. What’s going to happen?
• In the absence of the queen, the workers take
larvae and construct queen cells
(emergency queen cells)
• The workers feed copious amounts of royal
jelly to this larvae, making queens
42.
43.
44. Snellgrove Double-Screen
• Keep queen and 25% of frames with brood in
bottom brood box.
• Top with a Snellgrove double-screen and place
the other 75% of frames with brood above the
double screen.
• Queenless portion above double screen makes
queen cells (cut off from the queen
pheromones)
45. Options – to get laying queens
Raise your own queens
Four weeks from initial divide
Buy replacement queens
One week from initial divide
(depends on availability)
46. A possibility
Out of four hives going into winter
Two died out
Two survived
A. Leave one intact, plan to harvest honey
Split one and make two nucs to fill dead hives
B. Make a very small split from each live hive,
buy two queens, fill the dead hives.
Honey?
47. 3. What if all hives survive?
1. Stay at four hives, manage swarming
2. Stay at four hives, ignore swarming
3. Split some/all of the hives, sell nucs
4. Split some/all of the hives and expand
48.
49. Managing Swarming
1. Swarming is a natural inclination
Colonies swarm into a flow (feeding)
2. Swarming is triggered by “congestion”
Competition for cell space between the queen
who wants to lay more eggs and the workers
who look to store more incoming nectar.
50. Managing Swarming
3. Swarming can be prevented
Provide more cell space (drawn comb)
Stay ahead of the colony’s growth
4. Swarming can be controlled
Cutting out queen cells
51. Expanding the Brood Nest
Provide more room (cell space)
“Demareeing”
1. In the early spring add a super of drawn comb
2. Over the super, add a brood box of frames
with foundation.
3. Swap frames of capped brood with frames of
foundation.
**Per Edward Lloyd Sechrist, Honey Gathering
52. Three big scenarios
1. All your hives died
2. Some of your hives died
3. All of your hives survived
53. What’s Your Plan?
It’s a numbers game.
Depends on goals.
Multiple colonies provide options
and resources.
