Thanks for the update Peter. Sorry you lost a couple of colonies but still four left which is good. Do you think the colonies were too small to heat the brood and a half cavity? Or perhaps they had a high varroa load…or a combination of both things.
Thanks David. Don't think it was varooa. The colonies were both large in Sept and I thought they would continue to grow. Didn't really check them after this. I suspect the one with no brood at all had an early queen loss, the other with the small amount of dead brood was just too small. Will definitely just keep single brood boxes next winter. Perhaps poly would have been better also. Always easy with hindsight. Ta so much for commenting, hope yours are ok, look forward to your update in the spring.
@@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801thanks Peter, so far mine are ok. I can see the clusters under the clear crown boards. Two of them have big clusters and the other two are a lot smaller. It will be interesting to see if the smaller colonies make it through to spring ok. I did an oxalic acid vape a couple of weeks ago and there was a large drop of mites (even though I vaped them four times in September…). Hopefully we’ll both get some bees through
Hi Pete, sorry to hear about your colony losses. I always run double brood, but you need to make sure you still have the bees bubbling over the top by the end of August. You need plenty of bees to keep the temperature steady. There did not look like there was much in the way of brood, so I think you have had a lot of summer bees but not many winter bees and of course the summer bees will just die off. With four other colonies, you should be able to bring them back in 2024. Keep up your videos as they are a great watch.
@@thevectisbeeman6820 Thanks so much for your kind words. Always easy with hindsight, so will try to be a bit more proactive next Autumn and if the colonies not progressing I will combine them or at least make sure they don't have too much space for overwintering. I am looking forward to longer days and a bit of warmth. Hope yours are doing ok, have a productive 2024!
Thanks for the update Peter. Sorry you lost a couple of colonies but still four left which is good.
Do you think the colonies were too small to heat the brood and a half cavity? Or perhaps they had a high varroa load…or a combination of both things.
Thanks David. Don't think it was varooa. The colonies were both large in Sept and I thought they would continue to grow. Didn't really check them after this. I suspect the one with no brood at all had an early queen loss, the other with the small amount of dead brood was just too small. Will definitely just keep single brood boxes next winter. Perhaps poly would have been better also. Always easy with hindsight. Ta so much for commenting, hope yours are ok, look forward to your update in the spring.
@@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801thanks Peter, so far mine are ok. I can see the clusters under the clear crown boards. Two of them have big clusters and the other two are a lot smaller. It will be interesting to see if the smaller colonies make it through to spring ok. I did an oxalic acid vape a couple of weeks ago and there was a large drop of mites (even though I vaped them four times in September…). Hopefully we’ll both get some bees through
Ta David. That sounds promising, you are a bit more organised than me. 😅
Hi Pete, sorry to hear about your colony losses. I always run double brood, but you need to make sure you still have the bees bubbling over the top by the end of August. You need plenty of bees to keep the temperature steady. There did not look like there was much in the way of brood, so I think you have had a lot of summer bees but not many winter bees and of course the summer bees will just die off. With four other colonies, you should be able to bring them back in 2024.
Keep up your videos as they are a great watch.
@@thevectisbeeman6820 Thanks so much for your kind words. Always easy with hindsight, so will try to be a bit more proactive next Autumn and if the colonies not progressing I will combine them or at least make sure they don't have too much space for overwintering. I am looking forward to longer days and a bit of warmth. Hope yours are doing ok, have a productive 2024!