Preparing for winter

Today I took the feeders off my 2 new bought in colonies, Hives are heavy and even today they were working well with both pollen and nectar from the mustard and radish in the field next to the house. The original nuc has a completely full BB and a full super. Removed the remains of the Apigard tray and the eke and the QE which I had forgotten to remove. No more mites dropping.

I was going to place the super under the BB but the box was so heavy I could forsee problems lifting and rearranging the hive so I have left as it was.

The next job is to get some King Span for insulation, pity I did not keep the off cuts from insulating the barn. Spent over £4000 on the stuff.

Is there anything else I should do?

Mike

MikeT said:

... next job is to get some King Span for insulation, pity I did not keep the off cuts from insulating the barn. Spent over £4000 on the stuff.

Is there anything else I should do.

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"Barn" suggests countryside location.

Hence :
- mouseguarding the entrances would be wise. Soonish.
- green woodpecker-proofing might be advisable. In cold weather (particularly) some (but far from all) green 'peckers can attack hives for the tasty insects within. Some make wire mesh cages to keep the birds more than 6" away from the hive. Others drape their hives with no-grip plastic sheeting/strips - while looking for Kingspan scraps, keep your eyes open for roofing Tyvek, its ideal for this job. Shouldn't be needed before Christmas unless the weather is very unusual.

Barn conversion in the wilds of Norfolk, No near neighbours.
Had green woodpecker problems 30 yrs ago, Haven't seen or heard then where we live, but as the hives are next to the chicken run, I look each day.

I have closed up the entrance to 1/4 inch x 11/2, should I use proprietary mouse guards.

Thanks for the help.

I think someone on here just hammered nails into a standard entrance block, a bee space apart. Does the job

What a simple excellent idea!!

MikeT said:

What a simple excellent idea!!

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I'm full of 'em

kazmcc said:

I think someone on here just hammered nails into a standard entrance block, a bee space apart. Does the job

Click to expand...

Me

Erichalfbee said:

Me

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I had a feeling it was you, but my memory is awful lol, didn't want to upset someone

MikeT said:

The next job is to get some King Span for insulation, pity I did not keep the off cuts from insulating the barn. Spent over £4000 on the stuff.
Is there anything else I should do?
Mike

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Last month I went to Jewsons for the equivalent Recticel. They had a pile of damaged sheets. I bought one about 3mx2m half price.

I am planning to do the same. Will try Jewson's Travis, Tuff and Ridgeon for either King Span Celotex and I believe there are similar polyurethane foam boards on the market.

I didn't buy it, but someone did around six weeks ago.

5 off, 100mm Kingspan, 2.4 x 1.2m, second hand from an auction site. The buyer paid just £11 for the lot.

If it had not been so far away, I would have run the buyer for it for quite a few quid!

Not quite the thickness for beehives, maybe, but.......

oliver90owner said:

I didn't buy it, but someone did around six weeks ago.

5 off, 100mm Kingspan, 2.4 x 1.2m, second hand from an auction site. The buyer paid just £11 for the lot.

If it had not been so far away, I would have run the buyer for it for quite a few quid!

Not quite the thickness for beehives, maybe, but.......

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Nothing that a flat surface, a long hot wire, some glue and tinfoil wouldn't fix. A bargain indeed!

galileo said:

Nothing that a flat surface, a long hot wire, some glue and tinfoil wouldn't fix. A bargain indeed!

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What's the wire for? A penknife is all you need. I guess o90o means 100mm is rather too thick for our purposes - or am I being thick??