When the temperature drops below 8 degrees, bees will unite in the nest and stay dormant by eating honey.
Whether the feed is of high quality and sufficient in the whole wintering period is the basis of the success or failure of bees. The feed quality is high, most bees digest it after eating, and the bees are quiet and stable, with long life, no spring rot and fast spring reproduction; The quality of feed is poor, and bees digest less and have more residues after eating. When feces are absorbed by the intestine, it is easy to form abdominal diseases, some of which die and the whole group dies. High-quality feed should extract honey spleen in late autumn, and Sophora japonica honey and jujube honey are the best; After flowing honey, you should feed high-quality syrup or white sugar solution as soon as possible to let the bees fully brew.
The suitable temperature for heat-resistant bees to overwinter is 2-8℃, and the bees unite in the box to maintain their lives by eating honey and are in a dormant state. However, during the whole wintering period, the temperature was above 8℃ for several days, bees were active, feed consumption was high, worker bees were aging rapidly, and it was difficult to reproduce in spring, so they needed heatstroke prevention. The method is to cool down by ventilation, sprinkling water or blowing an electric fan.
Thirdly, the activity of wintering bees will also increase below -2℃, mainly by increasing food intake, constantly swinging the abdomen, and using the heat energy generated by activities to resist the cold. This not only consumes a lot of feed, but also causes worker bees to age and shorten their life. The way to prevent cold is: the bees should bask in the sun more during the day, and try to close the nest door as small as possible at night to fill the box joints and wind tunnels.
Four Prevention of Drying In the winter when there is no rain or snow for a long time, the bee farm should properly spray water to increase the humidity, prevent the bees from being thirsty, and dry and crystallize the feed. Because bees have no teeth, the feed crystals are hard and inedible.
Five moistureproof In winter, the humidity in the beehive is 70%-80%. Feed with humidity above 80% is easy to dilute and deteriorate, and bees are prone to diarrhea after eating it. If the humidity of the hive is high, a layer of plastic film should be placed under the hive, or quicklime and dry slag should be sprinkled around the hive, or bees should be allowed to fly and excrete in a planned way on sunny days above 10℃.
Six light-repellent bees have phototactic characteristics and will fly out of the box when the outdoor light is strong. In winter, if the bee farm is outdoors, it should be covered from light to minimize the energy consumption caused by the empty flight of bees.
7. Preventing stuffy bees from overwintering in the box is inseparable from fresh air, and it is necessary to prevent dead bees and sundries from blocking the nest door and suffocating. On snowy days, it is even more important to prevent snow from closing the nest door.