Moisture control and Emergency feed

[ski]

I have used granulated sugar for moisture control in the past so I thought it was about time to add it again this year before the cold snaps start.

Since it was a nice day today I added a shim to the top super, put some newspaper on the top bars and added approx 2 lbs of granulated sugar on the newspaper.

The humidity the bees create by breathing through their spiracles will rise and be absorbed by the newspaper and sugar so it won't condense and rain down on the bees. The bees can also use the moisture in the paper to obtain water and if we have a long winter they can eat the sugar using the moisture in the paper to melt the sugar and hopefully survive.
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Most of the hives also have hive top feeders with a screened cover which will also help with ventilation and during the winter when the temps are 51 or above I can add syrup to the feeders if the hives are getting light.
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All the hives are pretty heavy right now when they are lifted from the back. How heavy? Well I am working on that one. I got a spring scale but haven't figured out how to interface it to the back of the hive yet. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[ski]

Today I finished putting granulated sugar for moisture control and emergency feed on my last 3 hives even though they feel pretty heavy. Just gives me that peace of mind.

I also have a couple of nucs that I have not put anything on so I may try and make some sugar bricks using 1.5 Oz's of water with a bit of vinigar to each pound of sugar.

Here is a You-Tube Video making a candy board without cooking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_WLCc21-Hk

[ski]

I made some sugar blocks for the nucs.



I mixed up 4 pounds of sugar with 6 ounces of water and made 3 sugar blocks.

I used some scrap wood and just clamped them together for a mold, they were about 9 inches long 3.5 inches wide and the sugar is about 1.5 inches high. I used some #8 hardware cloth (screening) then one layer of newspaper and packed in the sugar. Then just unclamp the mold and remove the block.
The second one I made I used some aluminum gutter screening its about a #4 screen and it was easier to work with then the galvanized hardware cloth. The third one I made I did not use any newspaper just packed in the sugar on top of the aluminum screening. It seemed to hold together just fine without sugar falling out the bottom.
I have them in the sun drying and will add a shim to the nucs and put the blocks in a couple of days, before it turns cool again.

[ski]

Since it was 60 degrees yesterday I did a quick check by just popping the tops on the hives. It seems that a couple of the strongest hives are into the granulated sugar, I am not sure how much they are consuming but some sugar is on the landing boards, so its being hauled out as trash.

This is a picture of the strongest of the 3 nucs. It was a small swarm that originated in late summer.