It's kind of sad saying bye to the bees for now.. I won't be checking on them for awhile- as the temps drop here in town, it's just not good to open their hive up, we went from 32 to 70 in one day, so I knew I had better winterize them that day. We pulled out some frames to see what's going on, and squished a few more hive beetles- who were moving very very slow. And looked at the beautiful honey that was stored away in such pretty little pockets of wax.
One of my helpers making the candy board with me.
making candy board for the bees to eat this winter.
Very hot, but cools fairly quickly too.
We pulled that feeder out and replaced it with some frames.
Another one of my beekeepers- definitely the one who helps me the most.
The sugar residue had been left behind from so many feedings. There were some old dead bees in it as well as some live ones eating sugar.
scraping off the old interior lid before it's put in the shed for the winter.
One last look at our little friends before winter. We placed the candy board on top upside down.
I poured out some of the thicker sugar water that didn't dissolve completely for them them out on their entrance area, they have been eating it, it's just crusty sugar. Next cold night we will put on their entrance restrictor and mouse guard. See you little guys in the Spring hopefully!