By: Kenny Thomas

Kenny Thomas — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 23:15:08 +0000

I am a beginner with Bees and enjoy reading as much as possible.

By: Dale Foley

Dale Foley — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 23:24:33 +0000

I have been a bee keeper for a number of years and from what I see and read your hive is in good shape for this time of year. I live in SW Missouri and our climate patterns are close enough. The death rate of your hive is from many days of cold weather in a hard cluster. The bees are able to go on a cleansing flight and do soon house cleaning. Weather permitting do quick checks and toward the end of January the queen should be laying in very small patches. I would provide high quality pollen patties, using a medicine ring, placing the patty directly over the cluster. Good luck.

By: Cécile

Cécile — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 21:34:22 +0000

I’m in Central WI, and that is pretty much what I have. “Winter bees” can last 4 months, so how well they will be doing in April is contingent upon how healthy and which how many stores they entered fall. All of my hives are composed of 4 mediums, packed to the brim with honey. An observation: I see that you have 2 hive bodies and the top one seems a little cattywampus. Are you sure the seal is good?
Otherwise, all looks good. The front of my hives also has hundreds of dead bees. I’ll wait until March to open as my weather seems a little colder. Then, I may have to feed if the weather has been extremely long. I used some of the frames I harvested and did something different this time: I was sick and tired of “fishing ” dead bees out of the Miller feeder.I took these “wet frames”and packed them full of granulated sugar. Then, I sprayed the sugar with a little of water to form an “icing” and left it to dry in the house. I’m storing these boxes full of sugar in a freezer. I’m hoping this will work better than the syrup: First, the frames are a concept of theirs, so they should approach it just like their honey: Nothing weird there. They can climb between the frames just like it was real honey. Second, because there are still some droplets of honey in these frames, that feed should seem a lot more palatable to them. Also, I solved problem number one: drowning and problem number two: how do you store wet frames without having rodents, moths etc. getting interested?If I had more than 10 hives, I would have to have a special cooler to keep all these boxes and frames, but so far, so good. I’ll let you know how things turn out.
I also put them side by side by side on a black cement slab and wrapped them up cozy, making sure they have a little ventilation at the top. I still have a small opening at the bottom. When they drop or do a cleansing flight, I sweep them away, making sure the underside stays dry. I hope they will be kept warm enough by the proximity to their sister hives.
I like you, I removed the varroa trap underneath, figuring a solid bottom would be a little warmer perhaps. Good luck, Carl.

Comments on: Bee’s – Winter Survival

By: Kenny Thomas

By: Dale Foley

By: Cécile