We have had a good stretch of fairly cold weather over the last couple of weeks in central Virginia. Here to the east of Richmond, it’s been dipping into the 20’s nearly every night. Although this used to be normal a few decades back, I do not recall a stretch of cold like this in December in the recent past.

So, how does this effect the bees? The key for the bees is really the daytime temperature. If it rises above 40 during the day, my bees move around a bit (within the hive) and get their nourishment. We did have several days, back-to-back, that did not breach 38, but it was not long enough of a stretch to cause the bees problems, in my opinion.

The key to remember is that bees rarely die from cold. They die from starvation. I read a study last year where a scientist put a few hives in a deep freezer where the temperatures were kept below -20 degrees! He made sure the bees had plenty of stores and monitored them. They did just fine.

How do bees starve? They can either run out of food or the weather stays very cold (daytime temperatures do not rise above 30 degrees) for a long time. I do not know for sure what ‘a long time’ is, but it is probably several weeks. Bees do not move much when it is really cold. So, they eat the honey around them to keep warm but it remains too cold to move over to another batch of honey (or to retrieve honey from another area and bring it back to the cluster.) In either case, no hive should be starving at this point. But, it’s good to keep in mind come Janurary-February. You can move frames of honey to the cluster (either from the same hive or even from another hive.)

At any rate, the main reason I decided to post boils down to a little situation that occurred yesterday. Basically, the temp’s jumped up into the mid-40’s. At around 40, my bees come outside to use the restroom and stretch their legs. In the mid-40’s, I do not have a problem cracking the cover to look in, as long as it is not too windy. By ‘look’, I actually mean just that: look. I am definitely not breaking the hive apart in any way. But, it’s only December and I know that none of my hives are in any trouble now (well, I do not KNOW this, but I do know that any hive having a problem now is beyond my control – plus, I really don’t want that gene pool anyway.) But, I do have a few Nuc’s that I am overwintering. These guys do not have the stores that my regular hives do and this is my first year overwintering them. So, I needed to have a look. I decided to keep this to one double-Nuc (a deep that has been split in half to hold two 4 frame Nuc’s.)

Well, I can tell you that they still have the energy to attack. I guess I was lazy, as I did not suit up. This basically meant that my neighbors got to watch me sprint away from my hive the moment that I opened her up. They came out, armed for bear. In the end, I got a look at both clusters and could still see a good amount of capped honey on the frames. I was actually sort of surprised, for some reason. I guess I have not really bought into this ‘overwinter a few pounds of bees on 4 frames’ idea. Despite my subconscious misgivings, these bees were doing great. Today, when it breached 40 again, I put two cups of sugar on both hives (1 layer newspaper on top of the frames, two cups sugar and then used a cone to direct a few spritz of water onto the sugar to dampen it a bit.) This is called insurance. I currently do not subscribe to doing this with a seasoned hive, but I am not that confident in these Nuc’s, so they are going to get the full guns this year. In future years, once I have more experience with this, I may change my protocol.

At any rate, the amusing story took place with moving this double nuc. As mentioned above, it got cold quicker then I thought it would. So, I ended up with 1 double Nuc down at the Goose Pond Apiary. I like to have my Nuc’s close. Plus, this Nuc didn’t receive the sheltered Southern sun that I give my home Nuc’s behind my huge patch of Burford Hollies. This area was the first to have complete snow melt after all of the snows last year. It really is the best wintering location that I have and I wanted these Nuc’s in it. The other problem was that I never took the mason jars of sugar water off of them (another issue with having a distant Nuc yard.) So, I had to move them and I didn’t want to break the cover and let any bees out before I transported them. I hoped that the jars were empty.

This was a learning experience (never ‘hope’ for empty mason jars), as neither jar was empty. Once I got the double  nuc into the back of my Trailblazer, I immediately noticed sugar syrup seeping out of two corners of the hive. This was a potential disaster. I was not sure if any of the bees were even alive. But, if they were, I just introduced a major threat to them. Bees cannot get wet in the Winter as they simply cannot generate the  internal body heat to deal with it. They die. In my mind’s eye, I could see both of my clusters covered in syrup at that exact point (although I did occasionally waffle to the notion that all of the bees were probably already dead anyway:).

I am not sure if this made any difference, but I simply jacked the temp in my trailblazer up on the way back to Richmond. Once I got there, I parked in the field beside my house and listened to the hive. I could definitely here the bees buzzing! They were alive! So, I let them sit in the sun, remaining plugged up in my car (the inside of my black Trailblazer always stays comfy in the sun). I took my Greenhouse temp monitor and placed it in the car, monitoring it throughout the day. It did get into the lower 70’s, but no higher. My goal was simple: If some bees did get doused, I wanted them to be at a temperature that they would ‘lick’ it off of one another. By around 2 pm, the weather was still in the lower 40’s and I could see bees at my other Nuc’s making cleansing runs. So, I put them out in the field, popped the cover quickly to get the mason jars, and opened the entrances. Who knows if this helped or hurt, but I am recording it here as another one of my adventures. The bees looked great today, so I do not think it hurt much – it may have helped a ton. I am good with it, either way.

I guess the next hive update will be in January, under the assumption that we have some days that climb into the 40’s and are not too windy (ideally, the sun will be out, but I do not make that a rule for Winter checks, just a nice-to-have.)

Per my previous post, Ann Harmon of Flint Hill, Virginia, came down the the November East Richmond Beekeeper’s Association to talk to us about how the Honey Bee reacts to Winter. If you think about it, the Winter months are a time when the Bee really sets itself apart from many of the other insect of the world. Presumably, the Winter months are the one of the reasons that we get a great honey crop. The bees work all Spring, Summer and Fall, storing honey for the months when nothing is blooming (usually Winter, but really dry months are another good time to use your stores when you’re a bee!)

When the days start getting shorter and the temperature drops, the bees begin to stay home more. All of the nectar-producing blooms are on the way out, so the drive to go out at dawn and forage to dusk wanes. As you might imagine, when you change from a job that has you in 4th gear, most of the day, to one where your primary job is keeping warm and producing a bit of heat yourself, the stress on the old body lessens dramatically. In addition, when you’re not out presenting a tasty little meal to some wayward bird or hornet, your life span also increases. For this reason, bees live for 3,4,5 and (very rarely) 6 months during the Winter months (as opposed to 2 months during the nectar months!)

Obviously, with fewer bees dying off, the drive to lay a bunch of eggs decreases dramatically. Not only are you in a situation where resources are thin, but you need a temperature of 92 degrees for eggs and larva to grow ( and it becomes really hard to keep a large brood next warm when it is 10 degrees F). The goal of the hive is to keep enough bees to keep the hive warm, but not so much that  all of the stored honey is used up before the Maples and Hollies bloom in Spring. The decreasing day length and cooler temperatures begin to affect the Queen in October. By November, egg laying should be virtually stopped.

The bees form the cluster and hang on for the ride. As we all know, the days begin to lengthen around December 21 and this is the sign to the queen to start ramping up her egg laying. For the first couple of weeks, the rate barely creeps up (but it definitely should not be decreasing anymore at this point.)

Once the main cluster reaches 57 degrees F (or thereabouts), the bees form he cluster. They slowly begin to gravitate to one another, shaking their thoraxes violently to create heat (the thorax is where most of the bee muscle is, so this is effectively like doing ‘jumping jacks’ to increase their core temperature and give off some heat into the cluster. As more and more bees come together, a ball forms. The further you get from the center, the colder the bees become. By the time you get to the edge of the cluster, most of these bees are barely able to do much ‘shaking’. They begin to work their way back towards the middle of the cluster, taking in the heat of their warmer sisters, warming their bodies up to begin the cycle again, center-to-edge, edge-to-center. (And interesting side note about the ‘cluster’ is a term known as ‘balling’. Here, the bees form a small ball around a predator (like a hornet) and also begin to generate heat. They can actually cook the invader with this action and it is a defense mechanism used sometimes in non-Winter months.)

As mentioned before, the cluster  maintains a 90+ degree temperature in the center, when raising brood. When no brood is present, the temperature can drop to the low- to mid-80’s.

To close this out, Ann Harmon mentioned a couple of management techniques that she has learned over the last few decades. One involves shims for ventilation. She keeps her screened bottom boards open during the Winter and create a good gap at the top to create an air flow, providing a mechanism to move the damp air out of the hive. As I have seen where scientists demonstrated where a hive could be kept at minus 30 degrees for several months without perishing, this practice does not surprise me. But, I think this kind of practice assumes two very important things. One, the bees have plenty to eat. They are going to need do so a fair amount of work to keep the hive warm. Second, there are periods of ‘warm’ (40 degrees plus) during the Winter that allow them to move over to new honey and/or move honey from outside frames to the cells nearest the brood.

The second practice involved Mouse guards and it was not one that I recall hearing before. She takes half-inch hardware cloth and cuts it to be a bit longer and a bit deeper then the entrance to here hive. She then staples this across the entrance, allowing the bees to go but keeping the mice out. She is both North and West of me (closer to DC), but she strives to have these on by early October (according to Ann, the Mama mouse is out looking for a nesting spot at this time of year.) She uses no other entrance reducers for her hives.

That sums up the points that I noted from the talk. I have recorded them here for prosperity more so then for any other reason. I will try many of the tactics above and also try other methods that fly in the face of Ann’s thoughts. But, it’s always good to hear the experiences of a long time beekeeper and take note of them as you cut your own path in the beekeeping world!

We had a really great talk on the winter cluster of the honey bee at the East Richmond Beekeeper’s Association meeting last night. Ann Harman of the Virginia State Beekeepers Association came down from the western part of the state to give us an overview of what the bees do from November and onward through the colder months of the year.

Before Ms Harman started her talk, several folks asked about feeding their bees. Should you keep feeding your bees if they are still taking it? When do you stop? Like anything with bees, the answer largely depends on the goals of the beekeeper, with environment taking a close second.

My primary goal is to raise a bee that can survive (well, I should say thrive) in my apiaries despite my intervention. By intervention, I refer to all things that I do as a beekeeper (like opening the hives to look at them, taking their honey, stealing their brood to catch a swarm or whatever.) So, my bees need to be able to handle the mites and other diseases that come along (‘me’ being one of them) and they need to be able to make it through the Winter without my help.

Without any defects (a term from my job that basically means unexpected results/consequences, like a drought, me killing a queen by accident, me taking too much honey, the hive falling apart or some other bee experiment gone awry), I expect any hive that is more then 1 year old to make it through the Summer and Fall without any chemical treatments and through the Winter without any feed.

Some might read the previous paragraph and say ‘that fool won’t have bees for long’, and they may very well be right (well, I will always have bees, but I may lose all of the ones that I currently have, I suppose.) But, I think it is more probable that I will lose a few. I might even lose half of my hives. For me, it is a loss that I am willing to bear. I believe that the ones that do survive are my proven lines. Each year (past year 1) that a hive makes it without help is further proof to me that this line is a valuable one.

By feeding the bees, I am simply helping an otherwise weak gene pool to make it to the next year. I would rather let them sort it out themselves and end up with a few strong hives then a mix of weak and strong. So, I am not feeding any hives that are older then 1 year old. In fact, of all of my hives, I am actually only feeding my Nucs that I am overwintering at this point.

But, as mentioned at the start, everyone does it differently and I have no beef with anyone who does feed. The point of this post is just to point out that your goals really drive that, not the bees. It should also be noted that I do manage my hives in other ways that do not include chemical treatment (cycling out old comb, swarm management in Spring, splits, nuc creation, etc…) I simply rely on strong stock to fight off the mites and build up their own honey stores. In closing, the observant will note that I did not mention anything about honey output. The vast majority of folks manage their bees primarily for honey output. It is likely that my bees will not necessarily be the highest honey producers (I do not select for that trait at the moment.) They will give me all of the honey that I want and might give me record crops, but I doubt that my current strategy will result in all of my bees being super producers. Maybe in a decade or so I will have the base survival stock that I want and can then start to manage for that!

Anyone who has followed my travails since last October will remember that I learned a valuable lesson about the meaning of ‘Winter’ to beekeepers. Last year, several folks had given me advice of things to do in advance of Winter. Now, being a farmer and a hunter, Winter for me starts right around Christmas. The shortest day of the year usually hits around then sometime and is considered, by most people at least, to be the start of Winter. Here in Richmond, Virginia, we rarely get any significant snow (well, rarely get it period) or any real stretch of freezing weather before that day comes.

But, this is not what a beekeeper means when he says ‘be sure to get your hives ready before Winter’. Winter to the beekeeper is really what we refer to as the first hard frost. In my area, this averages around October 15, well in advance of the previously mentioned day in December! Needless to say, I was behind the eight ball last year (I didn’t start Winterizing until November, when I discovered this misunderstanding!) Well, this year I am a bit wiser (not much, but a bit), so my Bee Hive Winterzations started this weekend.

Yesterday, I was able to Winterize 5 hives and hope to get another 5 or 6 done today. So far, so good. My goal in this process involves six major points (and one optional point):

1. Make sure the hive is not honey/nectar-bound. This basically means that I do not want to find honey/nectar stuffed in most of the brood cells. The queen is now laying the eggs for the workers that will see her through much of the Winter. I want those cells open. I have never had this problem, but have heard it is a real risk with hives that you are still feeding (I only feed young hives, so I do not have much risk here). You should move an empty frame of drawn foundation to the center of the brood nest if you discover a honey bound situation at this time.
2. Find the queen or recent evidence of her (eggs) in the lower brood chamber. If you find them elsewhere, either move those frames to the lower deep or move the whole daggone box to the lower position (this latter strategy might be necessary if  a lot of capped brood is up with the frame of eggs.)
3. Confirm that honey stores are stocked to either side and above the brood nest. Move capped frames to these positions if they are not.
4. Put the entrance reducer in place, to help with defense and keeping the mice out.
5. Record how much honey stores they have. I make a journal entry like this : 0/2/8 Medium, 0/2/3 Deep. This tells me that the hive has 2 partially capped Medium frames, 8 fully capped Medium frames, 2 partially capped Deep frames and 3 fully capped Deep frames. This way, I know which hives to look at first when January comes around (which is the next time that I will pop most of these hives open again.) It also tells me who is strong in stores (I have a couple of hives with two full Mediums, or a full Medium and two full shallows), in case I need to borrow some food for a struggling hive.
6. Make sure I have a vent up top. I put a stick between the inner cover and outer cover, propping it up about a half inch or so.
7. [optional] Cover the bottom of your screened bottom boards. I did this last year, but I know of a fellow to the north of me that keeps them open all year long. So, who knows what the best strategy is. This is one thing that I have not done yet, but may do in November, after the elections (when I can use election signs for the covers!)

I was very encouraged by all of my inspections. Lots of honey and lots of capped brood. Found either queens or eggs in all of them and saw a lot of activity at the landing boards (bringing in both pollen and nectar.) Things look good so far, but more hives are on the agenda for today. I now know to expect the unexpectable (is that even a word?)…