Overwintering

[ouluman]

Hello I am  in the first year and have 2 hives in northern Wisconsin. Most folks tell me that they start over every year. Temps around here can go to -20f for days. Some years it never gets above 15f for weeks. Is overwintering an option??

[mikecva]

Overwintering is always possible if you help out.
I live in northern VA so I do not have to wrap my hives although some in the area do. I reduce the entrance to 1" to slow down the wind. I also close off the back (I have screened bottom boards) Note: my hives have a natural wind break although many years age I needed to put up hay bails to block the wind.
I have 3 brood boxes that I fatten up with 2:1 syrup. I have on some years needed to put sugar into the hives around January when the bees go thru their supplies but not always.
All of this is just a start. I would suggest your joining a local bee club for local information but again overwintering is always possible.  -Mike

[Dallasbeek]

Beekeepers in Canada overwinter, so why not Wisconsin?  It takes more work, but it seems to me it's worth it. 

[Nyleve]

I live in central Ontario Canada and this is my 5th season keeping bees. I have never lost my hive - I only have one. I know lots of very competent and experienced beekeepers who have lost their hives, despite everything so I don't know why mine have survived. But whatever it is, I'm happy about it. I always treat for foul brood and mites; I leave the colony plenty of food; and I wrap the hive every fall. I feed in the early spring to make sure they don't die before the flowers are blooming. That's pretty much it. I think it's a mixture of luck and care. Oh, and our winters are brutal too - it can (and does) go down to -30 C for parts of every winter. You can do it if I can do it.

[Michael Bush]

>Hello I am  in the first year and have 2 hives in northern Wisconsin. Most folks tell me that they start over every year. Temps around here can go to -20f for days. Some years it never gets above 15f for weeks. Is overwintering an option??

We get -20 F at night for a couple of weeks often enough.  Sometimes -27 F.  Almost every winter it gets to -10 F for a couple of weeks.  I overwinter bees every winter.  When I was in the Panhandle of Nebraska, I saw it -40 F two different winters and I overwintered bees there.  About the same in Laramie, WY.  Yes, you can overwinter bees.  They won't ALL make it.  But if you do splits to make up losses, you can keep bees in a sustainable manner.

[Eric Bosworth]

You should be able to overwinter bees there. I would suggest you get queens from the north, with genetics to withstand the cold.

[mtnb]

I'm in MT and plan on getting them through the winter.

Overwintering is always possible if you help out.
I live in northern VA so I do not have to wrap my hives although some in the area do. I reduce the entrance to 1" to slow down the wind. I also close off the back (I have screened bottom boards) Note: my hives have a natural wind break although many years age I needed to put up hay bails to block the wind.
I have 3 brood boxes that I fatten up with 2:1 syrup. I have on some years needed to put sugar into the hives around January when the bees go thru their supplies but not always.
All of this is just a start. I would suggest your joining a local bee club for local information but again overwintering is always possible.  -Mike

How do you know when to start fattening them up for the winter? And how do you know they need some help in January? Do you look in? Wouldn't it be too cold? We won't have any temps above 50F at that time.

[GSF]

Some folks use them Styrofoam boxes. We have brutal winters here also. Sometimes it gets below 50f for a couple of nights 

Just kidding, I've seen plenty of teens and twenties though. Nothing like you folks up north. There's an ol saying, "Up north they freeze out and down south they starve out." Our bees will hardly ever go a week without flying around during winter. It makes sense to stay with local stock.

[Hi-Tech]

GSF, true words. When I lived in Alabama we had to feed heavy all winter because they hardly ever went into true winter mode. I've had several starve out because I didn't keep up with the feeding. Now that I am in Kentucky, I am about to face my first winter with bees... we shall see!

BTW.. I grew up in Millbrook, AL. Live in Kentucky now..

[GSF]

I live up above Slapout about 7-8 miles, in the Beat (Beat 14 - so goes the Beat so goes the state)

[Hi-Tech]

im very familiar with the beat.. LOL   

[mtnb]

Some folks use them Styrofoam boxes. We have brutal winters here also. Sometimes it gets below 50f for a couple of nights 

Just kidding, I've seen plenty of teens and twenties though. Nothing like you folks up north. There's an ol saying, "Up north they freeze out and down south they starve out." Our bees will hardly ever go a week without flying around during winter. It makes sense to stay with local stock.

Hm I don't like that saying. lol Seriously though, it's not unusual to stay at -30*F for a couple of weeks in January. The wind is what gets so brutal. I'm definitely gonna build them a wind break.

[Psparr]

For what it's worth our Pa winters have been cold lately, and I haven't lost my hive in the three winters I've had it.
I put a medium "quilt box" on top with the inner cover over that. Not sure if that's the reason they have survived, but I'm going with it. I also overwinter in three boxes. The bottom basically empty and the top box with honey. I duct tape around the seams of the boxes and reduce the entrance.

[rookie2531]

Mite control, stores, ventilation, winter quilt, mice guards, wind block with as much full sun as possible and sugar bricks, should get you through. Read up on all these things and it will help you.