Winter's coming...cold weather questions

[Flygirl]

Hi All ~  (sorry to be talking about winter in JULY!)  :)

A few questions for those in cold climates:

I'm a new bee & haven't been able to winter my bees successfully through the winter (yet! ~ I'm trying) but some of the earlier posts discuss the process of building up over a number of years to harvest honey....I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to do that???

I have two hives & one is in a muddle...probably due more to my poor skills than theirs :).  They have the 2 brood boxes going nicely but are ignoring the super.  Yes, there's been swarm cells that I've removed but they have lots of room?   The second hive is doing well & drawing out comb on foundationless frames.  I'm excited about this development & seeing / watching them cap the honey.  I'm hoping for some honey from this hive.

If you are in a cold climate (Canada, northern states  (Alaska)) do you usually start over with bees every year or how successful are you at wintering them & getting the hive to grow & mature?

I'm in a learning curve & many bee keepers here kill their bees after a season ~  this isn't really something I'm comfortable doing as I think I'd like to give them a shot at surviving.  I'm wondering how realistic this is...Anchorage is on the coast with fairly mild temps (but a long winter) so I'd like to think I could winter them over?

What should I be doing NOW to get ready for winter (sob ~ I hate to think of it coming after such a rainy summer).

Thanks everyone for any advice ~  Flygirl looking for sunny skies!

[Michael Bush]

There are quite a few Alaskan beekeepers who overwinter.  Try the Yahoo organic beekeepers group:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/

Keith Malone, Steve and Linda Albers are all in Alaska.

Several alaskan groups:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ApiarianBreedersGuild/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=4
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sababeekeepers/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=3
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/alaskabeekeepers/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=2
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/akbeekeepers/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1

[Robo]

I don't think there are many left that intentionally start over each year, but I'm sure there are a few. 

Although I don't have as long a winter as you,  I have had great success with polystyrene hives and supplemental heating.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,11721.0.html
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,13576.0.html

[Ross]

Winter?  What's this strange thing you speak of.  It's 104 here for the next week.

[Flygirl]

Hi All ~

Thanks for the links ~  I subscribe to these but they aren't really active.  My understanding is that almost all the bee keepers start over with new bees every spring.  I think I'll have to check out the styrofoam hives .... that's a good idea, Robo.

I'm also wondering about moving them up against my house with southern exposure but after reading all the recent posts about the bees getting confused & not finding the hive after it's moved I'm concerned about that option.

104 degrees is sounding nice compared to our rainy 50 degree weather.  FG

[DrKurtG]

Alrighty Robo, now you've done it...Living in southwestern Virginia, I hadn't even considered heating my three hives over the winter but now you have me piqued! So, I did a little research and found this scientific study:

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:BX2WN00FCKoJ:web.uniud.it/eurbee/Proceedings/FullPapers/LenskySummary.doc+heating+beehives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us

This was a study done in Isreal that looked at the heating of hives by simple solar radiation. The researchers painted the poly-hives black during the winter months and then whitewashed them at the end of winter, beginning of spring. They also had control hives that were the normal white hives. As everyone has experienced, getting into a car that has a black interior in the summer can be an uncomfortable experience. Black absorbes heat and white reflects.

This study found that in the black painted boxes, by the way, that's the exterior of the boxes  ;), there was an increase in brood area, and the hives were a few weeks ahead of the white painted boxes. Here's one of their findings:

3. Brood areas, population of adult bees and flight activity of colonies in white and black hives, in March.  The brood areas in white and black hives were 3.372 and 5.498 cm2, respectively. Adult population in white and black hives covered 5 and 10 framed combs, respectively. Flight activity in white and black hives was 16 and 27 flying out /min, respectively.  The populations of developing and adult bees, as well as the flight activity were higher in black hives than in white hives.



Just wondering if anyone on this board has done this?

[Janemma]

Does anyone move their hives indoors?  In my book 'beekeeping in Western Canada' one of the suggestions is to put your hives inside into a well ventilated building kept at around 5c.  Does anyone do this?  As I only have two hives and most beekeepers seem to wrap up hives in groups of 4, I am leaning towards bringing my hives inside to my well ventilated workshop which would at least keep the windchills from them.  I can seal them up and yet keep them ventilated enough as they would be outside but at a stable 5c. 

This is my first winter as a beekeeper and I have one hive that is doing ok and has a full broood box and will soon have one full super.  This was a swarm I caught.  I also have a hive that was two packages that did not do well and I have combined into one.  They have the equivelant of  one brood box and half a super of brood/ honey so are not doing great bee/ honey wise.

Is going inside another winter alternative?

[Cindi]

Flygirl, I think the trend mostly nowadays is to not kill the bees come wintertime.  Most beekeepers overwinter their bees.  Even up in Alaska, bees can survive the cold.  There are beekeepers in Finland, for example, where it is also extremely winter cold, that overwinter their bees.

Janemma.  Eeeks, don't consider to bring your hives into a structure in the wintertime.  This is only my two cents, some may agree, others may not.

Bees can survive unbelievably low temperature conditions.  It is not the cold that will kill bees, it is moisture that may drip on them.  I must add to the last sentence though.  Cold can kill the bees if the bees have gone into winter with weak colony numbers.  For example, if the cluster is too small to move to get their honey stores.  The cluster moves around and if it is too small, it will die, period.  It is important that the bees are the right size for the box.

Bees will many time on a winter day break cluster in my area and fly out briefly for a cleansing flight.  Some areas the bees do not leave the colony home for months.  They survive.  They must have enough winter food stores.  That is critical.

If a colony is housed within a building, I am not of the impression that this is good for the bees.  The bees may feel that the "weather" is warm due to the temperature inside the building and all try to get out for their cleansing flights within the confines of this building.  Anyways, I am rambling, but I just wanted to point out a couple of things.  You may hear different things about indoor housing of bees.  Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi

[Kathyp]

remember some of the posts from other countries.  don't know if finsky was one, but some of those beekeepers keep inside.  they have openings to the outside, but the hive bodies are inside.  i remember one that had back openings and the hives were stacked together.

[Janemma]

Bees will many time on a winter day break cluster in my area and fly out briefly for a cleansing flight.  Some areas the bees do not leave the colony home for months.  They survive.  They must have enough winter food stores.  That is critical.

If a colony is housed within a building, I am not of the impression that this is good for the bees.  The bees may feel that the "weather" is warm due to the temperature inside the building and all try to get out for their cleansing flights within the confines of this building.  Anyways, I am rambling, but I just wanted to point out a couple of things.  You may hear different things about indoor housing of bees.  Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi

As fas as I am aware, in Winter in AB we block up the hives so the bees can't get out at all - they can't fly out between the end of October and early May as there is no entrance for them to use.  Beekeepers open up the hives early May for the bees to fly out and in Winter bees can't fly out at all. 

For bees that are over wintered inside, ventilation is extremely important and this is dealt with in the book - there is a big section in there to do with ventilation with fans etc etc....so I am fine with that and keeping the temperature at a steady 5c.  Moisture building up inside the hives would be very dangerous for the bees so yes, ventilation is vital but IS covered in the book so I'm aware of that - I was just wondering if anyone used this method here as it is covered in the Western Canada beekeeping book - I imagine its more for AB/ Sask than for BC though - I know many Beeks move their bees into BC for winter as an alternative over-wintering method. 

One of my hives would do well outside but I know my weak hive probably won't survive outside this year.

[Moonshae]

I've seen an article recently where beeks move their hives indoors to protect against the cold, and keep the structure well ventilated and kept between 30 and 40 F. This may not be practical on a small scale, since it was commercial beeks doing it.