API of the Month
Mathieu DOMECQ
Editor of the API of the month and the Blog
The fall in honey production in 2024 will have been uneven across France. Production in the north is down by 70%, while in the south it is down by around 30%. A shortfall of around 12,000 tonnes of honey for French beekeepers, according to ADA France.
To help you prepare for winter, this month we’ll be looking at the tips and guidelines you need to adopt. Then we’ll look at how to lay candy in the hives.
Did you know? A winter bee has a life expectancy of 120 days. By mid-September, 90% of the cluster is already made up of winter bees.
(Source : https://www.cari.be/IMG/pdf/136_conduite.pdf)
Work of the month
The cold has been in place since mid-November, and the results are being felt in the hives. Some are running out of food, and others have already died. The death toll has also been caused by the hornet, which stayed in the apiaries longer thanks to the mild autumn weather. In December, here’s a summary of the latest beekeeping activities:
– Feeding with candi: APIFONDA candi will give your bees more accessible, digestible and economical reserves. Place a 2.5kg pouch of candy on all your hives, even the strongest ones (they will eat all the faster). You’ll need to keep distributing it throughout the winter. Each colony eats it for a different length of time. In general, it is consumed after a month and a half. Remember to keep a regular check on your hives’ reserves!
– Cleaning the apiary: maintaining the apiary, clearing undergrowth around the hives, repainting hives and checking the stability of roofs are just some of the winter activities for beekeepers.
– Making by-products: beekeepers take advantage of the Christmas markets to expand their range of honey-based products. You can make honey sweets, mead, candles, propolis or nougat! You’ll find lots of recipes on the internet, or get in touch with confectioners who can help you create your own recipes.
Honey flowers of the month: winter heather and Viorne bodnantense
Successful wintering
In winter, to keep warm, the bees huddle together to form a cluster. The colder the weather, the more compact the cluster. At the centre of this cluster is the queen, who moves very slowly to lay her eggs, until she stops completely during the winter. On the periphery, where the bees are most exposed to the cold, the temperature varies from 7 to 10°C, then increases as you get closer to the centre of the cluster until it reaches 35°C in the heart of the cluster. If the temperature were to fall below 7°C, the bees would go into a coma, leading to the death of the hive.
To help the colony maintain a temperature above 7°C, remember to insulate your hive with :
– a closing plate for ventilated floors.
– an insulating partition if not all the frames are occupied to reduce its living space.
– an insulating frame cover (isoruch) to sock the top of the cluster. This can be pierced in the centre to lay the candy loaf on top. Once the insulation has been placed, replace your feeder upside down on the hive and cover it with the roof.
– Use insulating foam in the roof (apifoam) to contain the heat.
Honey is essential for bees, not only as food but also as fuel to keep warm. To do this, they need enough honey to last them until next spring.
Another criterion for good wintering is the environment. A quiet, noise-free environment is desirable for the colony. Continual stress caused by noise, vibrations or shocks can lead to over-consumption of food and restlessness in the cluster. Worse still, the cluster could break off and, in very cold weather, lead to the loss of the colony. Obviously, avoid damp areas where rainwater runs off and stagnates.
Positioning candy for winter
At API, we have developed a melting candy made from sugar beet. Thanks to its rapid absorption, bees can feed on it throughout the winter.
Every beekeeper has his own method of feeding candy to his bees. When you’re new to beekeeping, it’s not easy to find your way around, and logic dictates that all you have to do is put the loaf of candy in the feeder and the bees will take care of themselves. But no! They risk starving to death. Getting to the feeder is a perilous business when you’re a bee in winter.
To avoid exhausting your bees, this loaf of candy should be placed just above the cluster, on top of the frames.
So to feed our bees while keeping a good reflection of the heat, here’s how I practise on my apiary:
I start by removing the roof, insulation (apifoam), frame cover or feeder. Once open, you’ll see the cluster, located at the front or back of your hive, depending on the colony. Do something about it! Place an isoruch – insulating bubble paper like for the garage – as a frame cover over the bees. This will have had a hole drilled in the front for Nicot double feeders (or in the centre if you have a wooden feeder). This opening will give the bees access. The pierced side of this insulation will be positioned above the cluster (at the front or back of the hive). You will then place the candy loaf, previously opened and turned upside down, on this isoruch.
In this way, your bees benefit from direct insulation, while having the candy above them thanks to the opening in the isoruch. Close the hive with the feeder turned upside down as in the first case, and then replace the roof.
An extra partition? If you find that the cluster is small and empty space when you open the hive stealthily, remove a frame (one or two frames that appear to be empty) and put a partition in its place. The temperature will be better maintained and the colony will have a better chance of surviving the winter.
New: the candisac
This little object is very practical for feeding candy to hives. It acts as a cookie cutter, making it easy to cut the opening in your isoruch and in the plastic of the candy. Then push the other side of the cookie cutter into the candy dough. Its shape will keep the pouch raised so that it doesn’t fall on the bees when they’re in the pouch.
As usual, share your photos with us: we’ll publish them on our site via social networks using the hashtag: #apifonda #apiinvert!
See you next month on your API blog with your faithful partner, Les Ruchers De Mathieu !
LES RUCHERS DE MATHIEU
Miellerie & Magasin d’Apiculture
Photos ©lesruchersdemathieu
