hive insulation

Winter Hive Preparation

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Wooden National beehive with a gabled roof set up on a hive stand in a garden apiary, prepared for winter.

Welcome to my first apiary update! As the temperatures drop this autumn, I’ve been taking key steps out in the apiary to get the colony prepped for winter endurance. Top Insulation & Fondant Access First up was tackling heat retention and condensation control. I acquired a sheet of 45mm thick polystyrene insulation and cut it … Read more

Over wintering Preparation

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Row of wooden beehives covered in winter snow on a wooden stand in an apiary field

With the supers extracted, autumn varroa treatments well underway, and thick 2:1 sugar syrup being taken down, apiary focus shifts entirely to winter survival. Foragers are working the final autumn blooms—such as ivy and late asters—while the queen steadily contracts her brood nest to rear long-lived winter bees.Read More