Very cold this weekend and possible monster storm next week !!!!!!!!!!

backyard warrior · January 21, 2011, 03:52:35 PM

Lets pray for our bees and if we get all that snow dont forget to clean your hive entrances :)

backyard warrior · January 21, 2011, 03:59:27 PM

maybe 1 to 2 feet of snow according to accuweather.com

BjornBee · January 21, 2011, 04:29:03 PM

All that insulation might be good for the hives..... ;)

Acebird · January 21, 2011, 04:57:24 PM

Quotedont forget to clean your hive entrances

Why? They will just go out the top entrance if it warms up enough and if it don't they might like it closed off.

iddee · January 21, 2011, 05:09:50 PM

I will never clean that insulation away.

backyard warrior · January 21, 2011, 05:15:17 PM

So you are saying i should have top entrances acebird ??? I have my bottom boards closed off and the top cover just shimmed a little to let moisture out im guessing since the bees cluster it would be best to help them conserve heat then make a top entrance for all that heat to escape but you know what you are doing so i wouldnt want to tell you what to do :-D

backyard warrior · January 21, 2011, 05:17:24 PM

just leave the snow there so they will sufficate :)

Kathyp · January 21, 2011, 06:26:01 PM

i leave the snow, but i do clear the little entrance from time to time. they will fly in the snow if it warms a bit. snow is a great insulator.

Acebird · January 21, 2011, 07:15:25 PM

QuoteI have my bottom boards closed off and the top cover just shimmed a little to let moisture out im guessing since the bees cluster it would be best to help them conserve heat then make a top entrance for all that heat to escape

A shimmed cover is going to let out more heat than a top entrance. The top entrance is not at the tippy top like the shimmed cover is. I shim the cover in the summer not in the winter. Moisture will get out no matter what direction the hole is in. I would expect that most of the moisture in the hive leaves through the bottom either by air or by condensate.

BjornBee · January 21, 2011, 08:09:10 PM

I have never seen, known, or heard of a hive EVER suffocating.

Last year, we had double 24 inch snowfall storms about three days apart. One of my nucs fell of the stand and was completely covered in snow. The only thing I saw when I walked out to the yard was a bump in the snow where the nuc was buried. I stood the nuc back up and the bees let me know with a loud hum that they were still doing fine.....even laying on their sides, and buried in two feet of snow.

I've asked many times in the past. Those who had verifiable cases of hives suffocating...please step forward. And nobody ever says they had hives that actually suffocated. Making all those worried about suffocating, and passing off advice based on it happening...nothing more than perpetuating a urban legend that will never die.

Here is the same story, and another discussion on ice, snow and suffocation. Read reply #6....
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,30756.0.html

buzzbee · January 21, 2011, 08:36:26 PM

Sounds like good weather to weed out the weak. Not what some want to hear I'm sure.

Russ p · January 21, 2011, 09:22:22 PM

Here in northern Wi it was -32 f this morning.My hives are not wrapped just a top entrance hole. It will be a good test for my two new hives.

backyard warrior · January 21, 2011, 10:12:15 PM

Hey bjorn since when do u know what you are talking about :-D

BjornBee · January 21, 2011, 11:09:48 PM

Quote from: backyard warrior on January 21, 2011, 10:12:15 PM
Hey bjorn since when do u know what you are talking about :-D

Since when did you start listening? :-D

Acebird · January 22, 2011, 11:36:42 AM

QuoteI have never seen, known, or heard of a hive EVER suffocating.

Snow is porous like a filter on your vacuum cleaner. In is not like bees consume 10 ft^3 of oxygen per hour. Ice on the other hand could be a problem if there wasn't an entrance hole to exchange air.

gardeningfireman · January 22, 2011, 12:17:01 PM

When I got up to go to work this morning, it was minus 6 degrees! God, I can't wait till spring!!

T Beek · January 22, 2011, 01:35:44 PM

Quote from: Russ p on January 21, 2011, 09:22:22 PM
Here in northern Wi it was -32 f this morning.My hives are not wrapped just a top entrance hole. It will be a good test for my two new hives.

Hey Russ p; Welcome fellow Wisconsinite. Can you get close enough to "listen?" To your bees that is.

GO PACKERS!!

thomas

Russ p · January 22, 2011, 03:52:27 PM

Oh yes I can hear both hives still very alive doing their thing to stay warm.

Go packers!!!!!!!!

Russ p · January 22, 2011, 03:56:43 PM

T Beek
Where in Wisconsin are you located?

Russ

Vance G · January 22, 2011, 08:12:31 PM

When I kept and wintered bees in North Dakota within a couple miles of the Great White North, I placed 24 or 26 double deep 125Lb plus hives in a double column facing east and west. These columns were on the east side of the densest caragana or lilac hedge I could find. They were wrapped with insulation and tarpaper with top entrances and reduced bottom boards. I eagerly awaited the snowfalls and prevailing northwesterly wind which buried them deep under the snow. The best of all times were when they were buried under six feet of snow. Since there were no days fit for cleansing flights for three months anyway, they did not need to be able to get out and fly. Come spring when it was getting close to flying weather, I would break the ice crust that surrounded the whole column about 18" out from the hives on top only. Was a sight to see the clouds of bees on the first warm days emitting from a snow bank. Winter losses were almost invariably from the bees having exausted their stores. Mice caused a little damage, but a small matter. Very seldom had bees fouled the nest. But the outside of the boxes and the ice surrounding them on the other hand were pretty brown. I still lost colonies but it worked well enough to produce a lot of honey. If I wouldn't have had tunnel vision and requeened every two years, I might have developed bees that wintered even better. As the saying goes, Too soon old, too late smart.