Beekeeping – Wrapping up for Winter
I’ve just retuned from the garden and a little bit of beekeeping. As well as closing all entrances down to the smallest settings on the hives I also put some mouse guards across them. A nice warm hive with loads of honey is quite an attrractive place for a mouse over the winter and they can do quite a bit of damage to the colony so it’s best to prevent them getting into the hive in the first place if at all possible.
Mouse Guard
The bees were out flying a little but they are quite a quieter now that the temperatures are dropping and the days getting shorter. I did ‘heft’ a couple of supers whilst there and they don’t seem that heavy so we’d better get feeding and maybe get some fondant ready for them in case they need extra feeding over the winter.
I’ve also noticed that the damp weather has made the plywood that the hives are constructed from warp and delaminate quite a bit again. The main problem with this is that it has created some gaps between the hive components that will let drafts and cold into the hive over the winter. I’m wondering therefore if it would be a good idea to wrap the hives for the winter. Maybe some roofing felt fixed to the sides of the hive will help.
The roofing felt is dark in colour so will absorb heat, helping to keep them warm over the winter. It’ll provide some shelter from the wind and rain and will be cheap and easy to install and easy to remove in the Spring as well.
The main reason for not ‘wrapping’ the hive over the winter is that it can lead to a build up in condensation, making the hive damp and turning it into a perfect place for breeding diseases. This is especially the case here in Wales which is a fairly damp place anyway. Hopefully though as long as we leave the mesh floor open and make sure we don’t allow the roofing felt to cover the entrance block or the ventilation holes in the roof then we should be OK.
I haven’t made a decision yet but the hives are looking as though they could be a little drafty so wrapping them may be a good idea.
