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Author Topic: My winterizing method  (Read 9571 times)

Offline Finski

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #20 on: November 06, 2012, 01:04:18 am »
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This is a professional system from central Finland.

There winter temp is often -20C and reaches often -30C

The guy has a beekeeping company. He has now 1100 hives.
He manufactures HoneyPaw polyhives.

He keeps all hives in one box, because he limist the brooding to one box.
He fills the hive with syrup and it will last to August to April. He says that he cannot even go to hives before May because
forest roads have snow still.

The system is basicly common. No other trick are needed. Of course it is an advantage that you go and weight with hand what is the food storage in March.

This day is 2.2. 2011 and temp is -25C

inner cover has 3 pieces wooden fibre board, It is called "wind shelter board".

bees wintering in finland
« Last Edit: November 06, 2012, 01:15:03 am by Finski »
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Offline BlueBee

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #21 on: November 06, 2012, 01:28:07 am »
Finski what are all those extra parts on top of the hive?  I didn’t see any top entrance/vent in those hives either.

I keep my full sized hives in one box too; but it is a jumbo sized box (kind of like Brother Adam, Dadant).  I was under the impression that you winter your bees in 2 deeps?  No?

If global warming causes Finland to warm up, Finski might have to re-learn how to winter his bees from the USA and the UK  ;)

Offline BlueBee

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #22 on: November 06, 2012, 01:35:29 am »
For those going with just a reduced bottom entrance and lots of insulation in the northern states, it would be wise to keep an eye on the entrance and make sure it doesn’t get plugged up with dead bees.  I’ve had that happen numerous times and I think it contributed to losing a hive or two.  When the bees can’t get out, they panic, over heat the poly hives and then die in large numbers.  You avoid that problem with a top entrance, but as others will say, it isn’t a perfect solution either.

Offline Finski

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #23 on: November 06, 2012, 01:36:03 am »
Finski what are all those extra parts on top of the hive?  I didn’t see any top entrance/vent in those hives either.

it is wooden fibre insulation boar. Then it seems to have excluder against mice.

Quote

I keep my full sized hives in one box too; but it is a jumbo sized box (kind of like Brother Adam, Dadant).  I was under the impression that you winter your bees in 2 deeps?  No?

I keep in one box in two box or in 5 frame. It depends how wide has been brood area in August.

Quote

If global warming causes Finland to warm up, Finski might have to re-learn how to winter his bees from the USA and the UK  ;)

That need no learniong. They do fine in milld winter.

But before that USA should learn to keep hives alive in Alaska.

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Offline Finski

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #24 on: November 06, 2012, 01:40:24 am »
For those going with just a reduced bottom entrance and lots of insulation in the northern states, it would be wise to keep an eye on the entrance and make sure it doesn’t get plugged up with dead bees.  I’ve had that happen numerous times and I think it contributed to losing a hive or two.  When the bees can’t get out, they panic, over heat the poly hives and then die in large numbers.  You avoid that problem with a top entrance, but as others will say, it isn’t a perfect solution either.

That is important. Upper entrance saves the hive in this case.

Last spring my one hive roared loudly after winter. What is that! I opened the inner cover and half of bees rushed to air and died on snow.

The lower entrance is blocked with dead bees and I have not noted that gthere was no  upper entrance . That hive was ruined then.
Frames were covdred with poo.

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Offline BlueBee

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #25 on: November 06, 2012, 02:09:26 am »
Finski, do mice ever eat through the walls of your poly hives?

Offline Finski

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #26 on: November 06, 2012, 02:15:26 am »
Finski, do mice ever eat through the walls of your poly hives?

couple of times-

woodpeckers are worse
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Offline tjc1

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #27 on: November 07, 2012, 10:31:44 pm »
Hey, Finski - I am telling my students stories from the Kalevala - the honey bee has an important roll to play there, helping to bring people back to life! So honey bees have a long history in Finland, no?!

Offline Finski

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #28 on: November 08, 2012, 02:00:47 am »
Hey, Finski - I am telling my students stories from the Kalevala - the honey bee has an important roll to play there, helping to bring people back to life! So honey bees have a long history in Finland, no?!

How do you take Kalevala? Is it interesting?

It is sure that honeybee has nothing to do with Kalevala. It is like a lion which is in Finnish escutcheon.

Etymology
English ...honey
Sweden....honey
German....honig
Finland...hunaja

Russia....мед  something like "mjelt"
Poland.....miód


Estonia is nearist language to us: honey = mesi. In our language it means nectar.

But we have had here bumblebees and folks have eaten its honey from palm size nests.

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Offline tjc1

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Re: My winterizing method
« Reply #29 on: November 10, 2012, 02:25:26 pm »
My students (and I, too!) love the Kalevala stories. It is wonderful how the greatest magic the heroes possess is in knowing the secrets of nature and then being able to sing powerful songs from them. I meant to say that honey bees are important in two of the stories - one, when a bee was sent by the smith Ilmarinen to get honey for him to add goodness to the tempering bath for iron (and how the 'bird' (a wasp) of the evil spirit Hissi brought poisonous venom instead, leading to all the evil things that iron could get up to); and another time when the mother of Lemmenkainen brings her son back to life but cannot restore his speech until she sends a honey bee to the Ninth Heaven to fetch heavenly honey to smear on his lips.

With apologies for digressing so from the original post... is there a 'honey bee in history and legend' section?