Beekeepers call it putting the girls to bed - the last bit of maintenance before winter. Honeybees dont hibernate but remain active all winter within the hive. Colleen and I took advantage of the 50 degree weather today to winterize them: replaced the screed bottom boards with a solid ones, reduced the lower entrance to cut drafts and make it easier to defend, added metal mouse guards, added an upper entrance and an insulating quilt comprised of canvas and cedar chips in an empty top box, to improve ventilation and absorb moisture generated by respiration. Cold generally does not kill bees but moisture (condensation) often does. We also added a few pounds of dry cane sugar, should they eat all their honey reserves, and wrapped the brood boxes and honey supers in roofing felt to reduce drafts and to provide additional radiant heat on what few sunny days the solstice will provide. Novembers unexpected 2 weeks of sub-freezing weather, snow and high winds prevented us from getting to the hives sooner and caught many local beekeepers - including me, off guard. As you can see, many bees did not make it through the brutal cold snap.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:58:36 +0000
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