Common Winter Beekeeping Problems

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Managing a hive of calmly productive honey bees amid the bustle of a town or city may seem like an attractive prospect, but is it really possible? With “Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities” it is possible, and author Luke Dixon shares his compelling account that describes how urban bees enjoy excellent health, help pollinate plants, produce rich and plentiful honey and make for a rewarding hobby.
Managing a hive of calmly productive honey bees amid the bustle of a town or city may seem like an attractive prospect, but is it really possible? With “Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities” it is possible, and author Luke Dixon shares his compelling account that describes how urban bees enjoy excellent health, help pollinate plants, produce rich and plentiful honey and make for a rewarding hobby.
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During the winter bees will huddle into a cluster to keep themselves and their queen, warm only moving to feed on its stores of honey.
During the winter bees will huddle into a cluster to keep themselves and their queen, warm only moving to feed on its stores of honey.
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As the days begin to draw in and the colony reduces in size, it is time to prepare for winter. Eventually the bees will huddle down in a cluster to keep themselves, and their queen, warm during the winter months.
As the days begin to draw in and the colony reduces in size, it is time to prepare for winter. Eventually the bees will huddle down in a cluster to keep themselves, and their queen, warm during the winter months.
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Hive in winter.
Hive in winter.

Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities (Timber Press, 2012) by Luke Dixon features everything an urbanite needs to know to start keeping bees: How to select the perfect hive, how to buy bees, how to care for a colony, how to harvest honey and what to do in the winter. Urban beekeeping has particular challenges, and this book highlights the difficulties and presents practices that are safe, legal and neighbor-friendly. Learn how to safeguard your hives from common winter beekeeping problems in this excerpt taken from the book.

You can purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities.

“The months will be long and cold, and it may seem that you will never see your bees again.”

As the days begin to draw in and the colony reduces in size, it is time to prepare for winter. Eventually the bees will huddle down in a cluster to keep themselves, and their queen, warm during the winter months. The temperature inside the hive will drop to about 20°C and the cluster will move around the hive to feed on its stores of honey. If you have taken it all from them, then you will have to give them something as a replacement–sugar in the form of fondant, the thick white paste that is spread on cakes and buns. A local baker will often supply it, or you can purchase it from beekeeping suppliers in plastic bags. Just cut a hole in the bag and place it over the hole in the hive’s crown board. The bees can come up and remove fondant from the bag and take it down to the cluster. Not nearly as good as honey, of course, but the bees will need it if there is not enough honey in the brood box to keep them going.

Common Winter Beekeeping Problems: Pests and Diseases

  • Published on Mar 3, 2021
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