Snow Mageddon 2 Killed Them All

[van from Arkansas]

I can not save how many hives I have saved with inspections.  Inspections are very important, weather permitting of course.  What if Xerox is correct and his bees are dead???

For those of us who have winters, yes, inspections can kill.  Wax moth won't be a problem in winter.  There's no problem with taking a quick check under the top when it's warm enough for them to break cluster and fly to check the food you have put on.  If it's too cold for them to fly, stay out of the hive. 

Here I close them up in October and don't look again until February unless we have unusually warm weather earlier and starvation is possible.

Winter is relative to location.  In N Arkansas my wax moth traps were catching moths the first week of this January.  My bees fly at 43F to 47F whereas wax moths fly at lower temperatures.  I put out wax moth traps the first week in January: sugar, water, banana peel and apple cider vinegar to keep the honey bees out.  I caught moths the first night the traps were placed.
Blessings

[Nock]

Sorry that you lost them. I also lost both of mine. One I knew was struggling and expected to lose. The other was doing well I thought and in two weeks was dead.

[van from Arkansas]

Nock, so sorry for your loss. Can you post some detail.  I am not trying to determine the cause, I want to avoid the same issue, whatever the issue may be.
Blessings
Van

[Acebird]

I checked them by knocking on the side and listening for a buzz but I didnt hear any.

As was already said do not disturb.  Very bad practice even in summer.  All it does is needlessly stress the bees.

Inspections: very bad practice????

No Van not inspections.  Knocking on the hive with the intention of listening to the roar.  They go into the roar because they think the hive is under attack, like from a bear of some other animal.

[FatherMichael]

Dr. Leo Sharashkin once said that some beekeepers in Europe visit their hives once a year to collect the honey.

That means they might find dead hives or hives that died and were taken over by a swarm and produced a little or healthy hives that produced more.

Personally, it grieves me when one bee dies!  To lose a whole hive would be devastating.  It would just kill me.

[van from Arkansas]

I checked them by knocking on the side and listening for a buzz but I didnt hear any.

As was already said do not disturb.  Very bad practice even in summer.  All it does is needlessly stress the bees.

Inspections: very bad practice????

No Van not inspections.  Knocking on the hive with the intention of listening to the roar.  They go into the roar because they think the hive is under attack, like from a bear of some other animal.

Ace, I understand, thanks for the correction.
Blessings

[rgennaro]

Xerox did you check? I could not hear mine either but today I had a brief peak and they are there

[TheHoneyPump]

As the outdoor temperature goes down, colder, the bee cluster gets more compact.  The outer layer of bees, the mantle, are barely above their chill coma temperature.  Those bees are still - quiet - lethargic.  There will be no buzzing or fuzzing if you go knocking on a hive in cold temperatures.  The hive will be quiet.  Do not disturb, as doing so disrupts the intricate insulation layer being provided by the mantle bees.  Which throws their heat/energy off balance and will kill a bunch of mantle bees.
Wait. Go bang on the hive when temperatures are well above 42 deg F, 6 deg C.  Below that temperature, leave them alone.

Inspections during the BEE SEASON are essential to good management of the hive.  Disruptions or Inspections during winter -- will kill your bees.  Do your winter beekeeping during the bee season.  Meaning do all your work in spring, summer, fall; making sure that the bees are healthy, low parasite level, and have an adequate supply of winter stores.  Once the temperature drops there is nothing you can or should be doing. Other than walking by and clearing snow/ice from the entrance. 

Come spring, when temperatures return to being steady above that 42 deg F range, THEN you will know if the hive is alive or not by the amount of bees coming/going at the entrance.

Chinook here currently.  -37 deg C to +3 deg C in 36 hours.  The super quiet hives figured dead from over a week of bitter bitter cold were quick to blow my coffee breathe back at me this afternoon ... they are fine. :)

[CoolBees]

@TheHoneyPump - you always seem to "hit a home run" with your writing. Thank you for the excellent advice.

I hope your bees come out of winter in great shape, Sir.

[Bob Wilson]

HoneyPump. Thanks for the advice. Valuable to us new beeks. It helps me to stop second guessing myself, and heed earlier advice from Michael. Often the best thing to do when you don't know what to do... is nothing.

[Donovan J]

As the outdoor temperature goes down, colder, the bee cluster gets more compact.  The outer layer of bees, the mantle, are barely above their chill coma temperature.  Those bees are still - quiet - lethargic.  There will be no buzzing or fuzzing if you go knocking on a hive in cold temperatures.  The hive will be quiet.  Do not disturb, as doing so disrupts the intricate insulation layer being provided by the mantle bees.  Which throws their heat/energy off balance and will kill a bunch of mantle bees.
Wait. Go bang on the hive when temperatures are well above 42 deg F, 6 deg C.  Below that temperature, leave them alone.

Inspections during the BEE SEASON are essential to good management of the hive.  Disruptions or Inspections during winter -- will kill your bees.  Do your winter beekeeping during the bee season.  Meaning do all your work in spring, summer, fall; making sure that the bees are healthy, low parasite level, and have an adequate supply of winter stores.  Once the temperature drops there is nothing you can or should be doing. Other than walking by and clearing snow/ice from the entrance. 

Come spring, when temperatures return to being steady above that 42 deg F range, THEN you will know if the hive is alive or not by the amount of bees coming/going at the entrance.

Chinook here currently.  -37 deg C to +3 deg C in 36 hours.  The super quiet hives figured dead from over a week of bitter bitter cold were quick to blow my coffee breathe back at me this afternoon ... they are fine. :)

Thanks for the info. It is quite warmer now and all the snow is gone.

[FatherMichael]

Thanks, Ian.

[incognito]

Come spring, when temperatures return to being steady above that 42 deg F range, THEN you will know if the hive is alive or not by the amount of bees coming/going at the entrance.

Please elaborate a bit.Above 42 degrees for how many hours a day? One, three, five, twelve?

[TheHoneyPump]

It says - steady above, meaning always.

[incognito]

Thanks for the clarification.

[van from Arkansas]

I'd do what Ian (Honey Pump) says.

The HoneyPump is NOT, Ian.  Two different beeks, yes both of Canada, yes both commercial beeks, but different fellas.

Van

[Donovan J]

Update: It was 55 degrees yesterday so I decided to check on them and it is confirmed that they are dead. I have two packages coming this spring so hopefully their work doesn't go to waste.

[incognito]

Update: It was 55 degrees yesterday so I decided to check on them and it is confirmed that they are dead. I have two packages coming this spring so hopefully their work doesn't go to waste.

It is sad to hear that.

[van from Arkansas]

Xerox, sorry for your loss but very glad that you ordered packages.
Van

[Bob Wilson]

Xerox. Sorry for the loss
However, you gotta change your profile picture to upright. You are killing me here.