Winter Feeding for the BeesofSpike: Getting Fondant into the Hive

Tuesday 29th January.

After 3 weeks of wintry weather including sub-zero temperatures and a liberal helping of snow, the weather changed for the better and, for one day only, the temperature in the Apiary rose to a daytime high of 13.4C.

It was mild enough for the bees to be out stretching their wings and finding forage.

This was the window of opportunity.
Having failed to get fondant into the hive during the mild spell over Christmas and the New Year, this was the chance to make amends.

Adding fondant to your bees' stores of honey helps to decrease the likelihood of the colony starving to death during the long winter months.
It's not good to expose the inside of the hive to the cold so inserting the fondant would have to be done swiftly. The plan was to keep the roof off for the minimum amount of time possible.


It was also the time to see if the new homemade wooden eke would fit onto the polystyrene hive.
The fit had been tested on a spare hive but this was going to be its first use on a live box full of bees.

Dry fitting the unpainted eke on a spare brood box

An eke increases the available vertical space between the top of the frames and the base of the roof or top feeder. 

Without an eke in place there would be no room for the block of fondant.

It would also be the first chance to have a peek inside the hive since the last inspection of autumn. 

And the only chance to look inside before the arrival of the nice spring weather.

The operation went incredibly smoothly.

After smoking the entrance, LandofSpike and Neighbour Jane popped the top off the hive and gave them another small puff of smoke. 
The bees were, as usual, extremely placid and accommodating.

A quick inspection revealed that there was still plenty of capped honey left in the super and in the, ahem, large chunk of burr comb also nestling in the same super.

All seemed well.

The fondant packaging was slit open across the underside to expose the sugar and then placed on top of the uppermost frames so the bees could access it directly from below.

2.5kg of fondant in place, eke in place and, erm, prodigious amounts of burr comb in place.
However, you can see plenty of capped honey on frames 2 & 3 and on the burr comb.

Adding the homemade eke was extremely satisfying.

It was a snug and perfect fit.

Like a glove...

Perhaps the EPS hive makers could consider stocking EPS ekes for their beebox system as it is a pretty essential bit of kit and seems like a bit of an omission from their catalogue.

However, it's so relatively simple making your own that the lack of a store-bought eke is no great hardship.

So with the roof safely strapped back down, the BeesofSpike have their supplementary winter feed sitting nicely on top of their own stores. 

Their hive is now shut to humans until the spring.

Although the winter closedown is in place, LandofSpike will still be observing the little fellers on a daily basis, observing any activity and recording temperatures in the Apiary. 

He also needs to construct some new frames, paint some supers and brood boxes and build a new hive stand. 

And he really needs to get reading and bone up on what to do in the springtime.

Living in a Box... Some New Accommodation

It's all very well waxing lyrical about the splendour of being a beekeeper but at some point our beeless blogger does need to have some actual real-life contact with his own boxful of bees.

It does cost though.

So LandofSpike has eventually had to bite the bullet and release funds from his Empire's not particularly vast Reserves of Wealth.

Over the last few weeks Purchase Orders have been raised and orders have been placed.

Subsequently, the Post Room at Spike Towers has been kept busy receiving regular deliveries of Bee-related Equipment from a worthy array of suppliers.

It's very tempting to list all the exciting new arrivals but this post will put aside hive tools, bee brushes and smokers for the time being and deal with our Most Important Piece of New Kit...

The Hive has arrived.

It's rather smart.

It's from Finland and is called The Beebox.

It takes National frames and is made not of cedar but is lovingly crafted out of EPS.

Yes, that's Expanded Polystyrene. 

Not particularly traditional in this country, but hopefully functional, user-friendly and warm in the winter. And with any luck, the bees will love it.

LandofSpike and BKJ1 have spent some time piecing it together and painting it.

It comes flat-packed and slots easily together.

The unpainted Beebox

It currently comprises of (from the top down) a roof, an inner cover, a top feeder, 2 supers, a queen excluder, a brood box and a base with varroa mesh and tray. And a big strap to tie it down.

The Beebox has a cool entrance reducer

Modern Beekeeping recommended painting the Hive with Dulux Weathershield Smooth Masonry Paint. 

So it got several coats of the stuff in different colours for the different components.

LandofSpike thinks it looks pretty good.

How it all fits together

The boys have also been constructing a big stack of frames.

The delightfully and cunningly designed Hoffman ones.

Ten full size frames for the brood box and ten smaller frames for each super.

Frame components

Completed frame

It's a goodly task once you get your rhythm and is extremely satisfying.

BKJ1 was particularly good at it.

LandofSpike will spend some time on frames and frame making in a later post.

The Beebox, painted, but still masked up

So with the Hive now looking box-tastic the next task is to make a stand to keep it well above the ground.

LandofSpike will be lovingly handcrafting this himself.

Anyone who has seen his previous attempts at woodworking will have some idea of exactly just how magnificent this will be...