Hi.
It's actually rather late to be feeding syrup now but if you are going to, it needs to be 2:1 sugar to water at this time of year, so that they have less water to evaporate off. For future reference, feeding 2:1 syrup should be done in Sept if it is required. If you think they don't have enough stores to get through winter now, it would probably be better to give them fondant, as the water evaporated from the syrup will condense in the hive now that the temperatures are dropping and could cause damp conditions that would be detrimental to their wellbeing.
1:1 (light syrup) is a stimulative feed to encourage brood expansion. This is useful in Spring when you want the colony to build up to be ready for the nectar flow but not at this time of year when they need to be scaling down for winter.
Personally I prefer to let them expand with the natural conditions and flora and therefore I don't feed in Spring or summer and only feed in autumn if I think they don't have enough honey...which is a rare occurrence.
Likewise, reducing entrances probably should have been done a couple of months ago. Wasps and other bees tend to target weaker hives and it is always a good precaution to take before you start feeding.
A metal mouse guard over the entrance is probably a good move as mice can get into remarkably small holes and will chew a wooden entrance block to make it large enough to get in. Insulation is helpful (I use an old pillowcase stuffed with straw) and ensuring that there is no empty space above the colony, so if you have a super that is only half/quarter full, either remove it or pack the empty space with some insulating material like scrunched up newspaper. Oh and remove the queen excluder if you have one on as the colony, including the queen needs to be able to access the whole hive.
Can't think of anything else at the moment. The wind break you suggest around the hives is a good plan though.
Regards
Barbara
It's actually rather late to be feeding syrup now but if you are going to, it needs to be 2:1 sugar to water at this time of year, so that they have less water to evaporate off. For future reference, feeding 2:1 syrup should be done in Sept if it is required. If you think they don't have enough stores to get through winter now, it would probably be better to give them fondant, as the water evaporated from the syrup will condense in the hive now that the temperatures are dropping and could cause damp conditions that would be detrimental to their wellbeing.
1:1 (light syrup) is a stimulative feed to encourage brood expansion. This is useful in Spring when you want the colony to build up to be ready for the nectar flow but not at this time of year when they need to be scaling down for winter.
Personally I prefer to let them expand with the natural conditions and flora and therefore I don't feed in Spring or summer and only feed in autumn if I think they don't have enough honey...which is a rare occurrence.
Likewise, reducing entrances probably should have been done a couple of months ago. Wasps and other bees tend to target weaker hives and it is always a good precaution to take before you start feeding.
A metal mouse guard over the entrance is probably a good move as mice can get into remarkably small holes and will chew a wooden entrance block to make it large enough to get in. Insulation is helpful (I use an old pillowcase stuffed with straw) and ensuring that there is no empty space above the colony, so if you have a super that is only half/quarter full, either remove it or pack the empty space with some insulating material like scrunched up newspaper. Oh and remove the queen excluder if you have one on as the colony, including the queen needs to be able to access the whole hive.
Can't think of anything else at the moment. The wind break you suggest around the hives is a good plan though.
Regards
Barbara
