Bees are insects that are not in hibernation for the winter. As the external temperature decreases, the swarm, the number of individuals in which can reach up to 20,000, moves into the depths of the hive and gathers in the so-called club. Insects reduce metabolism and move slowly, eating stored honey. Inside the club due to movement, the temperature is maintained at +15 C. Here the uterus is most often located.
Preparing bees for winter is not possible without proper arrangement of their home. Specialists noted that bee swarms tolerate even very low temperatures well in the absence of drafts, therefore it is advisable to place hives under the cover of shrub protection, in depressions, next to buildings. For the winter, each unit of the apiary must be wrapped with a dark glassine, roofing paper or roofing material on three sides (the side of departure to the south is left free). In areas with a windy or humid climate, you need to wrap all four sides so that the material fits snugly against the walls of the hive. In this case, the bees cannot crawl out and die.
Preparation of bees for winter on the outside ends with the installation of inclined shields to the front wall to protect against wind and rainfall. In the future, the hives are covered with snow, which is an excellent heat insulator. Also, a possible wintering method is the transfer of apiary elements for the winter to underground houses, underground or semi-underground winter houses, where a temperature of 0-4 C and a humidity of about 75% are maintained.
The preparation of bees for winter actually begins in the summer, when in July two honeycombs with honey (on each side of the bee’s nest) are taken from them and placed in the cell store until the end of autumn. This product is less prone to crystallization and contains little moisture. Eating such a product in the winter reduces bee anxiety and also reduces the likelihood of death from diarrhea. In cold areas (North, Siberia, Urals) for each bee family you need to have about 30 kg of honey in stock, in the southern regions - at least 25 kg. Without enough honey, bees hibernate poorly and produce poor crops in the new season.
Preparing the bees for winter includes additional feeding to gain sufficient strength for the swarm. A strong family forms a large club, evenly consumes honey, flies well in the spring. To create additional nutrition, use 50-60 percent sugar syrup, which is given to insects in August at the rate of 5 to 8 kilograms per family. The feeding technology is quite simple: empty feeders are placed in the hives during the day, which are filled with syrup in the evening.
Feeding bees for the winter can also be done using a feed dough made from honey and powdered sugar, to which antibiotics, vitamins and protein supplements are added. In this case, the product in the form of cakes is wrapped in polyethylene or parchment, a cut is made and placed over the nest of bees. Replacing all honey with top dressing is impractical, because insects do not receive all the necessary nutrients and die quickly.
How to prepare bees for winter? The treatment of families from diseases of an infectious and invasive plan occupies a special place in the complex of measures. To do this, in autumn, at external temperatures from zero to +12 C, bee colonies pass + 46-48 C through a heat chamber, where up to 90% of ticks causing varroatosis die. In addition, they can get rid of the same disease with the help of such chemicals as Bipin, Fumisan, Apilinol, Apidez, which process swarms in the fall (after pumping out honey, but before collecting the swarm in the club).