[biggraham610]

Well, I have been out of town. My wife said she thought there was issues with the double, warm day no activity. Went in today and sure enough cluster dead. There were still 4 frames of honey in the top box. All bees were in bottom. Single is packed with bees. I saw some bees coming and going from the double yesterday, now figure they were robbers probably from the small hive. It still feels heavy but Im new, they were packing in pollen the other afternoon. Im going to put a candy board on top. Im stressed now. I was worried about the single. and the double perished? Any suggestions? Should I try and add a frame or two of honey from the other hive? where should I put it? Will the candy board be enough? :s:scratch:

 

[westernbeekeeper]

I have found that singles will often overwinter better than doubles in general...at least in my area..

 

[pannu96]

I overwinter in singles only and loose less colonies than those who use doubles in my area.

 

[westernbeekeeper]

pannu96,
I have found this to be the case as well.

 

[JClark]

I'd just stick a frame or two of honey on the edges of the brood nest--scratch open before adding. Candy board would be enough too if they can get to it during the next few cold days. After that we should have a real warm up and things will start blooming pretty quickly. Red maples finally started blooming here this week-end and bees were bringing in loads of pollen. From what I can tell the maples do provide nectar which the bees collect but it is usually too cold to work it. Since you are south of me I assume you may be a week closer to real blooms than here (unless you are high in elevation).

Chances are the bees in the small hive has robbed out more than you think.

 

[pannu96]

Western bee keeper
Just put some dry sugar on top in November for emergency and they will roll out of winter strong. I prefer them as well. I can split in August and double my count.

 

[biggraham610]

Thanks for all of your input. I will take in account the late split and wintering in singles this year. The small hive is booming maybe I will order a mated queen and split soon. With comb already built I guess they should take off no?

 

[KPeacock]

Out of 6 hives, the two that died on me were the most populous double deep, and the least populous 5 over 5 nuc. The rest of the doubles and singles are still going strong. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the 5 over 5 was a split off of the big hive. apparently those genetics were not up to the winter.

 

[biggraham610]

How soon is too soon to split the remaining hive? Should I order a queen now and split as soon as the weather warms up a little? Thanks. G

 

[pannu96]

If you're buying queens then split whenever the give is string and ready, if you plan to use grafts, check for drones.

 

[biggraham610]

If you're buying queens then split whenever the give is string and ready, if you plan to use grafts, check for drones.

Thanks, I'm planning on buying. Have a good source I used last year. Snowing now, I guess I will wait for the first warm day, next week.

 

[Beregondo]

If you're buying queens then split whenever the give is string and ready, if you plan to use grafts, check for drones.

"Strong" and ready.

If you make a split when they're "wishful thinking" strong it will take them longer to build up than if you wait for the frames in the give to be well covered with bees and split a little later.

 

[biggraham610]

Thanks for the input. The single is packed full, thats why i want to split now and maybe avoid a swarm. I guess another option would be to give them room to grow. I will already have drawn frames from the perished Hive. My thinking is that they should be able to build fast if I split. Plus a queen is cheaper than a package. I just want to do whats best for the bees. would adding another box always thwart the swarm?

 

[JClark]

I'd add a box now (by Friday we should be in the clear), put a frame of honey on the outsides to be sure they have food, and put empty frames in the middle. If the hive is full the queen should move right up and lay. Then you can split in 2-3wks time and then super. By then the flow should be getting started. Here the flow starts hard and heavy with the cherry blossoms and continues until about July so I'm assuming it is similar for you.

With the extra comb and mated queens for the split it will be like the hive never died by July.

 

[biggraham610]

Thanks alot J. We are pretty close together. We are looking for rain fri and sat. So maybe sunday. I will try that. honey on the outsides, drawn comb in the middle and split after the population boom. Thanks man.:thumbsup:

 

[Moon]

I have found that singles will often overwinter better than doubles in general...at least in my area..

How did your singles over winter this year?