The Gentle Art of Hefting

SCALE

The practice of hefting hives is still used today and helps any beekeeper understand how their bees may be doing without interrupting or opening the hive.

In the Southern Hemisphere we are finishing our summer and there has been a marked downturn in honey flow, so many beekeepers are worried about the amount of fuel (honey) their bees are stocking up for winter. This same worry happens at the end of winter as we wonder if our bees are going to make it into Spring.

Opening hives at the end of winter or now is becoming more difficult because of cool days. It takes bees a week or sometimes two to reseal, rewarm and rehumidify a hive after we open it. Sometimes a queen will stop laying until the environment is right and this impacts on the strength of the hive. There needs to be 3-4 good days with good overnight temperatures for us to safely disturb the colony.

The bees are often a little more anxious in late Summer and Autumn as they work hard to stock up for winter, and it is not uncommon in our cool climate to have them being more defensive at this time of year. Reducing our inspections is good for the colony and keeps them calmer.

An alternative is to heft the hive. This is gently lifting the lower box of the hive to test the weight of the hive. With time, one can become quite adept at working out if there is enough honey for the bees. The heavier the hive the better. On the Langstroth boxes, I lift them at the back of the hive. On Warre hives, I remove the lid and gently lift the lower side of the box. Even Top Bar and other horizontal hives can be lifted from the end.

So ‘don’t Warre - bee happy’ and heft away now to get a good idea of your hive weights without lifting the lid on your bees.

Happy Beeing