Bees are the Coolest

[TheHoneyPump]

If you have ever been wondering what the bees are doing on a crisp sunny day in winter wonderland. They do the same as the rest of us.  Sitting by the window, soaking in the sunshine, strolling out onto the porch to check the temperature.  Enjoy.

Cool Bees 1 - video
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ct1K10bnz7-1_HtE5WXhi610qMMgkGcP/view?usp=sharing

Cool Bees 2
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NfOXacB6Rk61mYsOl08YpQcpdrtHzCX6/view?usp=sharing

Cool Bees 3
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P9uOLCR4AmsCmgeHCIOxTcbcIa_JNMUt/view?usp=sharing

Cool Bees 4
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0ik3IQgLoikPNC7Z1btsq1o-BgFwA9c/view?usp=sharing

[Ben Framed]

Amazing!  -25 celcious = -13 fahrenheit!! Again, amazing!!   Interesting, thanks for posting!!
Phillip Hall

[Ben Framed]

The area of the American hemisphere that I live is nothing to compair as the weather that you have to deal with. Lows here are, sometimes near 0 Fahrenheit on very, very rare occasions. Mostly our cold tempatures are sometimes in the low 20"s at night and usually back above freezing during the day. There are exceptions to both. Your hives look to be well insulated, but also with good venting. Apparently you have it figured out to a  science for your area!! Good job!! In my area,  I have never seen any of the local beekeepers with a wrapped hive. This is my first winter and With the (basic) tempatures that I described, I have not wrapped my hives but have placed a 1 inch insulation board between my box and top. And, similar to your vents, I am vented also. Hopefully I will be ok? The real cold hasn't arrived as of yet. We have had one night with 25 degrees Fahrenheit , and a few more in the upper 20's Fahrenheit. But on the flip side we have also had several days in the 50 degrees  Fahrenheit with bees actually flying!! I feel sure that that will end soon! Hopefully my bees will winter well. No doubt that yours will!!   Thanks for your pictures and the post.. Very reassuring!!
Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"

[The15thMember]

If you have ever been wondering what the bees are doing on a crisp sunny day in winter wonderland. They do the same as the rest of us.  Sitting by the window, soaking in the sunshine, strolling out onto the porch to check the temperature.  Enjoy.

Amazing that they can be anywhere close to the entrances in those sorts of temperatures!  How much snow do you guys have on the ground up there, HP?  Great white north indeed.   

The area of the American hemisphere that I live is nothing to compair as the weather that you have to deal with. Lows here are, sometimes near 0 Fahrenheit on very, very rare occasions. Mostly our cold tempatures are sometimes in the low 20"s at night and usually back above freezing during the day. There are exceptions to both. Your hives look to be well insulated, but also with good venting. Apparently you have it figured out to a  science for your area!! Good job!! In my area,  I have never seen any of the local beekeepers with a wrapped hive. This is my first winter and With the (basic) tempatures that I described, I have not wrapped my hives but have placed a 1 inch insulation board between my box and top. And, similar to your vents, I am vented also. Hopefully I will be ok? The real cold hasn't arrived as of yet. We have had one night with 25 degrees Fahrenheit , and a few more in the upper 20's Fahrenheit. But on the flip side we have also had several days in the 50 degrees  Fahrenheit with bees actually flying!! I feel sure that that will end soon! Hopefully my bees will winter well. No doubt that yours will!!   Thanks for your pictures and the post.. Very reassuring!!
Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"

Your temps sound pretty close to mine, Ben.  My girls were flying a couple days ago too.  It's my first winter as a beekeeper, so I was glad to see them out.  It's just reassuring to know they're still in there and doing okay!  My setup sounds similar to yours as well, only I went with a moisture quilt instead of an insulation board.  It's been so rainy here this year that I've had some mold issues in my hives (and in my house!) so plenty of ventilation for me as well.   

[TheHoneyPump]

.....

[blackforest beekeeper]

not much snow, really. but I guess it accumulates...
how much do you usually get?

around my place, 1 Meter is considered quite a bit and rare. But 50 cm to 70 cm is about norm. Higher up it is more, of course. So if I drive to the closest city I sometimes drive in between walls of snow. But it does get rarer, I think.
The rhine-valley nearby hardly sees any snow.

it tends to melt again every now and again. So we get that amount maybe 3 times a year in average. But sometimes it stays around in shady places till mid-April or later.
so far....10 cms and now only frost on the ground. We had a spell of rain that - had it been a couple degress colder - would have given 2 m of snow, if only felt. It was pouring buckets for a week. a day more and we would have had flooding.

you don`t get any melting-times in winter, I presume?

[Acebird]

BFB, snow evaporates every time there is sunshine regardless of the temps. 

THP, is it normal in your area to have the poop streaks this early?

[Ben Framed]

Nice scenery Mr HP. Thanks for posting! The picture goes right along with the Christmas and New Year Season! Would be nice relaxing beside a crackling fire 🔥  in the fireplace, looking through a picture window at this.. And don't forget the cup of hot chocolate 🍫  Ah haa haa haa. Happy New Year!!🎈
Phillip

[TheHoneyPump]

Ben.  Hot chocolate doesnt cut through.  The Ice Melter: Coffee+Baileys 70:30 topped with a splash of FireBall.

Ace. Yes. Even when it is really cold, under the right conditions they do fly to vent though they stay very close to the entrance. Flights are short, less than 10 seconds half circle, and are within a foot of the entrance and they zip right back in. The result is scatter splatter wherever it falls.  Absolutely normal.

BFB.  As to amount of snow, it varies year to year and time of year. Generally, it accumulates to 1.5 to 2.5 meter. More in some areas yet at the same time less in others due to wind drifting. The snow also compacts and sets caused by changing conditions. There are 7+ types of snow, so asking how much there is well the answer is - it depends. Also, Beeing on the eastern plains near the Rocky Mountain ranges we do get chinook winds. The chinooks are 3 to 6 weeks apart and can last from a few hours to a day. The shifts from low/high pressure systems are also much more pronounced in winter, bringing dramatic changes quickly. It can be a calm sunny crisp -25 -30 -45 C day today, warm chinook move in overnight and be +5 tomorrow followed by freezing rain in the evening and a -25 north artic wind with heavy snowfall the day after, plunging right back into the deep freeze. Actually getting 25+ cm of snowfall out there today in one day, right now.  Also as correctly said above, snow and ice do directly sublime slowly.

The bees do weather the shifts well. The keys are having healthy colonies of hardy genetics along with timely hive preparations by the beekeeper to set them up in a hive configuration that buffers the rapid shift in extremes.  They hang out and look outside when it is cold and snowy. On calm cold sunny days or when a chinook comes through they hang out on the porch and get some short flights in.

My personal favourite days are going for a walk when the sun dogs are out, occasionally get blessed by a full halo. When the dogs are out, you know it is particularly crispy out there. 

Being international and multiclimate readers.    Ask google about few terms I used;  sun dogs, baileys, fireball, and chinook - which BFB will have some familiarity as the lesser Fohn.

[beepro]

Are they coming out to breathe because inside is too hot?  I can see that you use foam
to cushion the hives.  Or does it means that they are overcrowding inside since these don't look like
the typical carnis bees.   What genetics are they?

[TheHoneyPump]

Are they coming out to breathe because inside is too hot?  I can see that you use foam
to cushion the hives.  Or does it means that they are overcrowding inside since these don't look like
the typical carnis bees.   What genetics are they?

The video and picts were taken at 2pm in the afternoon, bright sunshine, calm no wind, -25 degC.  The time and lighting condition when bees get most active. They were simply cruising out onto the porch to see if it was a work day or a snow day. Definitely not hot nor crowded. 10 frame double deeps (20 frames) with 10 to 12 frames of bees.

[Acebird]

Ace. Yes. Even when it is really cold, under the right conditions they do fly to vent though they stay very close to the entrance. Flights are short, less than 10 seconds half circle, and are within a foot of the entrance and they zip right back in. The result is scatter splatter wherever it falls.  Absolutely normal.

I think your bees have adapted to your climate very nicely.

[FlexMedia.tv]

That's pretty neat!

[SiWolKe]

Very cool!
Are they buckfast?

Thanks for the language education. I knew what baileys is.....

[TheHoneyPump]

20 degC temperature swing overnight, Chinook.  -20 yesterday, +2 today. Expect to be back in the -20 range by Saturday.
Happen to be by there helping the land owner with some misc stuff so went for a walk over to the few hives I keep there for him. Here is a new movie of the bees, as to the change in behaviour on a sudden temperature shift..

Apologies for the sound, it is a VERY windy day as the weather systems rip through and shift.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bKKv95nUmoXRKnUMsjmilacIoDfnRS9l

Looks like they had a good morning of cleansing flights and also got some house cleaning done, haauled out and dumped a lot of trash.

ENJOY

[BeeMaster2]

THP,
Are the black dots in the snow dead bees or something else. I did not see a lot of yellow dots/bee poop.
Jim

[TheHoneyPump]

Sorry for the poor focus.  Old phone. 
50:50 ...  black dots (bees and hive trash), brown dots (poop)

[van from Arkansas]

HP thanks for the video.  The bees look dark colored, are they a black bee, what some call a carniolan?  I believe the carni are known as a cold weather bee, you agree?  Other beeks up north agree?

My corodivans would not last one winter, although I realize the Cordovan are just Italians with recessive gene for color.  Have you or other beeks seen successful Italian bees winter over in Canada?
Happy New Year, to all!!!