Snow removal

[Highlandsfreedom]

WOW!!!! I already need to shovel open the openings to my girls ............................. or should I leave it covered untill it melts?

http://img682.imageshack.us/g/p1080901.jpg/

[Robo]

I'd just clear the entrance so they get fresh air.

[Burl]

  Hey Highlands ,  You're getting quite a nice blanket of snow there I see .  Us too .  If you feel that the snow is somehow sealing off the hive , like it is wet and heavy , or compacted , you might consider poking an airhole in for them with a stick .  They need air , and there has to be some ventilation, or condensation problems will develop .
  I faced the same challenges here my first 3 years.  Here are some simple things I have done to try and adapt to the conditions and improve my bees survivabilty :  1.  I went with top entrances (3/8 x 1") in the inner cover , I perforated the inner cover every 2" with a 1/8 drill, Above that I place a medium super , and in that super I place a piece of R12 fiberglass batt cut to fit.  2. Above that I put on a 3ft square piece of corrugated roofing tin (1/2" shim on one side to facilitate watershed/drainage) and on top of that I put a piece of firewood heavy enough to keep the wind from blowing the tin off . It is important the tin be corrugated as the corrugations provide ventilation , like an attic .  I kept my lower entrances , and simply keep them blocked with a solid wood block which I temporarily remove on the warm winter daytimes (we call those warm spells "Chinooks" ) during which the bees are often doing their cleansing flights and doing some housecleaning .  I believe having the bottom entrance open a couple of inches during these times to be helpful to the bees for one of their sad but neccessary tasks , O.K. everybody sing with me in a somber tone BRING OUT YOUR DEAD .
3.I had real issues the first few years with mice getting into the hives and making a royal mess , going to top entrances was part of the solution . The part that finally fixed Mickey and Minneys' fun was to put the colonies up onto elevated (15" hive stands whose legs had been put into coffee cans .
  There you have it .  After a few tragic , train wreck winters , we are finally beginning to have bees survive in numbers sufficient to produce the honey we need  and then some.    ---Burl---

[Kathyp]

you also can just lay some plywood against the front and create an a-frame type protection for the entrance.  i had the same issues last year.  even the open sides of the plywood got covered as the snow slid and piled up again, but there was a foot or so clear in front of the hive, under the plywood anyway.

[Geoff]

Just too simple Kathy !!

[Highlandsfreedom]

Burrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I went in shorts and sandles.  The snow is up to my knees!!!!!  And im 6'2"  Thanks Kathy I used some old pallet wood for now. 

[Sparky]

Buuurrrrrr! is right Highlandsfreedom. Man I don't know if anyone has told you this, but shorts and sandals are not exactly in season for your weather.LOL!! :-D

[SlickMick]

You guys and gals have to be senile or something like that to live in those climates  :roll:

Just give me sun, sand and surf :drowning: 24/7/52 any time  :-D

Ahhh its nice to put the trash out in the middle of winter in my shorts and thongs, thinking how nice it will be to come inside and have a real cold beer   :cheer:

Mick

[alfred]

Got over a foot in Loveland and still coming down. Am mountain boy so shorts and tshirt don't seem too strange to me... although I will admit that as I get older I find myself getting a little more down streamish.
 My girls are ok with the snow, no problems with top entrances!

I am a little worried that I didn't get the feeders changed out for sugar or fondant. most of my hives were very short on stores this fall. And I had a bad case of robbing and a bad case of murdering wasps. So we will see what comes.

Alfred

[BruinnieBear]

Even though that fluffy white blanket will most likely turn to slop before it gets here, I think I'm good to go.  All the hives were switched over to top entrances this season.  Looks like you have the perfect justification for a changeover, yourself.

The falacy with top entrances is that they are snow maintenance free.  Elevated stands with plywood tents/snow fence are still necessary to keep SBB's open to provide proper ventilation and reduced accumulated humidity.  When hives are grouped, keeping the leeward side open against prevailing drifting is much improved.

Right now our problem is mountains of leaves.  Being on the north edge of the northern deciduous forest has issues that are not unlike heavy snow, and a good proving ground for later expected problems.

[Kathyp]

Just too simple Kathy !!

i am a simple person  8-)

do watch those upper entrances.  they clog up as quickly as lower and are harder to keep clear in heavy snow unless you can put an overhang on the hive top.