With the excitement of the honey extraction over and done with my thoughts turned to the manner in which I would prepare the hive for the winter as September is already upon us and the weather systems look variable to say the least.
I had decided to use Api Life Var over the course of 4 weeks on the hive and research from other local keepers indicated that I could feed at the same time and a quick visit to the local supplier let me get a new “English” feeder. 2Kgs of granulated white sugar and a litre of water were heated through to make a heavy feed syrup and when cooled it was transferred to the feeder.
The hive was well mannered and although extremely busy had done well in cleaning off the frames in the top super and were sell on the way of adding stores to the other super. Stripping the hive I removed the queen excluder and had a look through the brood box but the queen was not visible although there was plenty of brood in all stages across the box and plenty of stores. I decided to effectively switch to brood and a half for the winter as the queen is so prolific; there are many threads of forums with views both for and against this course of action but I can see no technical reason why it should harm the colony over the winter period.
Putting the Api Life Var on the frame bars in the top of the super the crown board and feeder were replaced and the hive buttoned up – my intention being to return in a week and replace the Api Life Var sheet.
Much discussion has ensued post honey extraction about the best sort of honey jars and what sort of honey people actually want to buy. I therefore decided to generate a quick online survey to get a "quick & dirty" view of what our friends and family think about local honey and what they want us to do next year.
Having had a pretty good response I though I'd open it up to anyone who reads the blog. Please feel free to click on the link and pass on your views :
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6F9BJZX
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