Yesterday a friend showed me a surviving open hive under a large Walnut tree limb, about 20 feet above ground. I saw them last fall and said "They will never make it but they did". There is a small swarm left and they are working. I looked for dead bees under hive and found none. In February the temp got down to 1 or 2 degrees below zero. New respect for our friends, they are tough.
That's amazing!
Thanks Paus, good to know info. I did not realize an open hive could survive such temps. Tip your hat to those bees for me.
Van
There is a lot of energy in honey! They turned that energy into heat, which helped the colony survive a week of winter in the open.