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Treatment free in eastern WA

4K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  MethowKraig 
#1 ·
Just found this forum...lots of good info. I am a new beek this year, have only one hive. It started as package in May...has grown nicely, produced a very tasty, extremely light honey(almost the color of lemonade), which many people were surprised by(we have lots of alfalfa, clover, fireweed...around us which can produce very light honey...or so I have read). I have two deeps and two medium supers which I want to leave for the bees(I only pulled 2 frames just to see/taste the honey)...if there is honey left then I think we'll take it in the spring. I fed sugar water when we got them but really don't want to fall feed, feel that their honey is much better for them.
We have a screened bottom board and I am getting an all season inner cover from Honey Run Apiaries which will hopefully keep the bees dry during our cold, long winter. I did a 3 day mite count and averaged 40-50 per day(seems high for a package, but what do I know?)...trying not to be too concerned and trust that they will make it thru the winter.
I have a question about the screened bottom board...
When we set up the hive, hubby put down concrete blocks and then a piece of plyboard on top of them followed by the screened bottom board. Do you think we should take the plyboard off and just let the SBB sit on the blocks or can we leave it on there? I just wonder if the mites are falling on the plyboard and are not dead would they crawl back up into the hive? Thanks for any and all responses. Halley
 
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#2 ·
Halley,
At this last months bee meeting it was suggested to me to do a ‘powder roll’ to get a more accurate count on my mites. My 24 hr mite counts were low, consistent and I was all excited. I did it on 4 hives this week and found I had high numbers in two and low numbers in 2. So now like any excitable kid I am preaching it. I found it on the Oregon state web site but cannot find it now, so here is a website talking about the different ways of detection. Your numbers seem huge.
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444-103/444-103.html
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Halley,

Do not use the SBB for winter. It is too cold here in the Methow.

I use solid bottom boards. I close all bottom entrances for the winter. The snow does that anyway.

I've tried insulating but can't say it makes a huge difference. A small top entrance, or preferably two is important. I do insulate the top. The idea is moisture from respiration can rise and exit the top entrance. Insulating the top keeps the moisture from freezing under the lid.

Biggest over-winter problem is dwindling from mites. I don't monitor for mites, but your numbers appear very high.[edit]

To survive, you need strong hives, heavy with honey. At least 100 lbs.

I'm also raising my own queens. Hopefully in a year or two I will have local survivor queens available for sale.

You can send me a private message on this site and we can then exchange emails if you have more questions.

- "Met How" Kraig
 
#6 ·
Thanks, Kraig...(you met my husband Joe at the hardware store in Twisp). I just ordered an insulated hive cover which provides a top entrance, ventilation and insulation from Honey Run Apiaries. I get conflicting reports about the screened bottom board...there are people in cold weather states using these year round(for ventilation and mite control)....And have asked several people in the valley what they use and some use SBB....Needless to say it is very confusing. More in the email to come.
 
#7 ·
I started last year, and before that I got most of my knowledge from the Long Lane Honey blog. David Burns is a proponent of open SBB's all year, for ventilation/condensation management, and mite control. He's in Illinois.

I did this with my first two hives close to Reno, up in the hills a bit. Last winter, for three months, the nighttime temps often got down to 15-20 degrees F.The bees did great! Just one more experience to add to the mix...

Oh, and I've heard from some locals that overwintering on SBB would be the death of my hives. Lots of people, lots of opinions :)
 
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