I have a couple of hives, just a little north of Toronto Canada. The bees are leaving the hive in extremely cold weather, and the front of the hives are littered with bees.
I have a slot cut out of the inner boards, for ventilation ( I hope...), and the "front door has a n inch by 2 inch hole in it. I have closed the hole I have in the upper deep, because of extreme cold temperatures in the last two months.
Is 100 to 200 bees dead at the front of the hive normal, in a Northern climate...
Shouel I open the 'vent' hole in the upper deep, in case there is not enough ventilation in the hive. It is still extremely cold here, even for Canada, this year...
All suggestions are more than welcome...
Best Regards,
binglis
Yes, it is normal.
You will have a normal die off in winter. The bees will drag these bees to the entrance, for discarding later.
I also think many times they are blocking off entrances with dead bees. And if they know what they are doing, I would leave them alone.
Quote from: binglis on January 29, 2009, 09:10:53 AM
I have a couple of hives, just a little north of Toronto Canada. The bees are leaving the hive in extremely cold weather, and the front of the hives are littered with bees.
I have a slot cut out of the inner boards, for ventilation ( I hope...), and the "front door has a n inch by 2 inch hole in it. I have closed the hole I have in the upper deep, because of extreme cold temperatures in the last two months.
Is 100 to 200 bees dead at the front of the hive normal, in a Northern climate...
Shouel I open the 'vent' hole in the upper deep, in case there is not enough ventilation in the hive. It is still extremely cold here, even for Canada, this year...
binglis
Binglis, I have a little bit of a trouble quite understanding what you are meaning, but I will try to answer. You are basically saying that you had a slot in the inner cover open originally, but because the weather is so cold you have closed this slot.
Two things come to mind. If the slot in the inner cover is closed and the bottom entrance gets closed up with dead bees, how are the bees going to exit the hive when they need to? They have no escape, no where to drag out the dead bees and now you have a hive that cannot get outside. Am I reading right what you have said?
The second thing. The hive requires that the moisture created from the consumption of honey, and the like be ventilated out. If the top slot is closed, there is no place for the condensation to be released.
Some will put dry sugar within the colony to absorb moisture, that works for them too. If you do not have a slot for removal of condensation, I would think that you need to get something like dry sugar to absorb that moisture.
This is my opinion only. Others may chime in.
Remember, it is not the cold that will kill bees over wintertime. It is moisture within the colony and the inability to get to the food reserves because of clusters that are too small to move to those reserves, that is the most common cause of winter death (starvation). If your question is not answered to your fullest desire, ask more, more answers will come.
It is normal to have many bees die throughout the winter. They are the old bees. The snow on the ground will show these bees moreso than when the ground is not snow covered. All my colonies have the slot in the front of the inner cover wide open. Picture this. The telescoping lid (is that what you use), basically covers the slot in the inner cover anyways, preventing from the wind to blow in. Have a wonderful and most awesome day, love this life and live it so. Cindi
Thank you for the replies...
To answer a couple questions:
I do have a slot in the inner cover, and it is 'open', with the telescoping lid over the top.
I keep the snow removed from the entrance (at the bottom...). I use an entrance reducer here, and the smaller hole is being used for air, and bee exits, if warranted.
This winter has brought a lot of snow, and extremely cold tremperatures, for a sustained time. I do not remember seeing hundreds of bees on the snow, last winter, but I may not have been checking near as frequently...
Thank you for your help
binglis
Binglis, I am in southwestern British Columbia, don't know if you noticed, but I am in the opposite side of Canada.
Good, you have exactly what I have for the bees, the small hole in the entrance reducers, the slot in the inner cover, telescoping lid. Works well for our necks of these woods. The bees dying off in the winter is very normal. You may just have not noticed it last year, don't worry about things until you do you first quick inspection. I will be performing mine around the middle of February. This will not be a deep inspection, only a brief one to give a pollen patty to any colonies that have survived. I have 9, I expect 9 to be alive. They went into winter in large clusters, enough food to last until April (I did not feed sugar syrup in the fall, I ensured that I left PLENTY of honey for them to survive long into spring). Pardon, I did give two feedings of sugar syrup to feed fumagilan to them for nosema prevention, that is a realty here on the coast and we are instructed by our bee inspector to feed a couple of these medical feedings, I do comply, I trust this source.
Recently there was a newsletter sent out by the Honeybee Centre, this is a massive operation in Surrey, across the river from me. I have taken extra courses there, and trust their advice too, with regards to how to take care of the bees in our area. I have copied some of the information sent to me in their newsletter. Have a great and wonderful day, life, attract great health. Cindi
"In February:
1. Attend Revive the Hive, February 7, 1 - 3 pm (free for basic beekeeping grads)
2. Check all hives February 15
- If the weather is really bad, you can wait one week. Any longer and you risk not having hives ready in time for the early honey flow (April-May)
- Begin feeding pollen patties to all hives, and ensure the hives have a continuous pollen supply until dandelions are in full bloom (around April 10)
- Do not feed sugar syrup to overwintered colonies (okay to feed it to packages) until March 15
• Sugar syrup early in the spring contributes to moisture related problems, including chalkbrood
- After March 15 ensure each hive gets 1 feeding of medicated (with Fumagillin) syrup to treat for Nosema
- Before adding a honey super in April/May, test your colonies for Varroa mites, and treat if required"
Thanks Cindi, for the information...
I will do the inspection when the temps read 50 F (10 C) which is usually not until March, in my neck of the woods...
I will not worry (until then...)
Thanks again,
binglis
Dead bees outside the entrance means the bees are still alive. The pp covered this, but the top entrance needs to be open to allow condensation out. If there's no ventilation the condensation will build up on top of the cluster and prevent them from accessing feed and they will starve out. Come spring it will be one nasty mess of moldy starved bees, and a bunch of unused honey. If you are concerned about the wind chilling them, shovel some snow around the bottom so that the bottom entrance is covered. The snow will allow fresh air through, however it will significantly slow the wind. The hives can even be completely covered with snow and will fair well.