Whilst many say that the beekeeping year starts in August, for me, February also feels like a new beginning. Bees will start bringing in pollen from hazel and snowdrops and the amount of brood hopefully starts to increase. Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to open your hive. We are still in the realms of ‘nothing you can do if there’s a problem’ so best to leave them, as long as you have evidence that there are still bees alive in there.
You can check varroa boards (biscuit coloured cappings dust means there is brood), heft and put more fondant above the crown board if they are light, and watch them on cleansing flights or even orientation flights on a sunny day. Maybe you could check the hives are stilll level and plan what stands you will need to replace in spring. If you’re concerned you can look through a polycarbonate crown board or look underneath the hive, up through an open mesh floor with a torch to check that you don’t just have dead bees.
If you suspect you have a problem and there is no activity at all, many often find that if a colony is going to die, it does so in February or early March. Sometimes diseased bees just aren’t strong enough to make it through and produce and feed the next generation, varroa being the main culprit. If the colony has died you do need to quickly open it to check and then close it and block the entrance to stop the spread of disease from other bees robbing the hive. Seal it up in a large bag until you have time to burn dead bees and comb, burn or boil frames and scorch the box. If they are still hanging in there but very weak, reduce the entrance to just 1 bee space with foam to reduce robbing and check they have food. You can try feeding small amounts of thymolated light syrup if they are in a bad way (no more than 500ml once or twice a week as it can draw heat from the colony). Use a contact feeder over the crown board until spring as they will not be able to access food in a rapid feeder, and use insulation around the feeder and house it in an empty super. Otherwise only feed fondant. Many sources sugget feeding pollen pollen substitute in February to encourage spring build up, but latest research has shown this to be a waste of time and money.
We are all very close together and we have a responsibility towards neighbouring beekeepers as well as our own bees to not let our hives and old equipment be robbed by healthy bees, spreading diseases and pests. You can save 30 of the freshest looking dead bees in a sealed bag in the freezer for analysis for varroa and Nosema and message me or ask on the WhatsApp group for help if you need it.
On the topic of Nosema, it is well worth catching 30 flying bees to test your colonies on the first sunny days from now on. To do this, temporarily block the entrance with foam and trap the bees in a plastic box sliding the lid on to seal them in. You can humanely kill them in the freezer. They are old and on their last legs anyway so you won’t reduce the strength of your colony and knowing if you need to do a Bailey comb change in spring onto fresh comb, because Nosema is present, may be the difference between life and death for the colony.
Now is also a good time to check you have enough kit for next year, especially supers with frames and wax. If you have drawn comb that you are planning to reuse, check it is not damaged by wax moth. You can sterilise empty drawn comb, to destroy wax moth larvae, Nosema and mould, with 150ml of 80% acetic acid on a pad above the frames, but make sure you are away from people, pets and bees, aswell as concrete and metal. Remove runners and castellations or smother them in vaseline. It all needs to be sealed in a plastic bag for a week and thoroughly aired for at least 2 weeks afterwards. It’s powerful stuff and you must wear the correct PPE.
It’s almost spring, hang in there and message as usual with questions.
References
Collins Beekeeper’s Bible
“Healthy Bees, Heavy Hives” by Paul Horton and Steve Donohoe.
Noordyke, E. et al.