Another of our Beekeeping 101 videos on how to do a winter bee inspection. Links to more beekeeping videos at end of the post. This time we open up the beehives in late March to show us feeding bees in winter. Keeping bees in areas with snow and winter, you will want to add sugar cakes, aka fondant, in the winter, and then add protein patties in late winter - early spring to get the honeybees going early.
You can open a beehive if its above 40F to do a quick winter bee inspection, if its in the 30sF, you can open it real quick to put some sugar on the top of the hive. Do not take the hive apart for a full inspection. We are just taking off the outer and inner cover, and looking in from the top of the hive real quick. The faster you do this the better, I think.
Honeybees may not always crawl up to the top and show themselves, they may still be clustered in a lower super, so just leave them that way. If you come across a dead hive, as we did, my suggestion is to leave the hive be, tape up the entrances, and clean out the hive when it warms up. You tape the entrances closed to keep the wax moths from moving in as spring approaches.
Dead Bees near sugar cake
Why did my bees die? Its not always obvious. Condensation is a big winter killer, but since we switched to the insulated inner covers we built, click for the insulated inner cover post, we have not had a condensation problem in the beehives in winter. Every year we have had a beehive die in winter, it is hard to get them all through winter. So when a hive dies, don't blame yourself if you have done the following:
- Followed a plan for varroa mite control
- Fed bees in fall with sugar syrup
- Left enough honey in the hive for winter
- Added sugar cakes or fondant
- Used an insulated inner cover
- Tilted the hives forward in fall
Read more of our beekeeping posts here and watch beekeeping videos here. Thx!
Questions, comments? please let us know below:
Helen
coincidentally, I just stumbled upon this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?_r=1&
Terry
We are in Central Maine and we had (key word "had") two hives at the beginning of the winter seas
on. We lost one in the early winter and two weeks ago we gave the remaining hive a protein pack. They were very healthy looking. This past Easter Sunday we went out to see how they were doing and sadly they were all dead. It was in the 50's so my husband decided to take it apart. At some point a mouse had built a nest (we did have a metal mouse guard) and had feasted all winter on honey. As far as we can figure the bees must have starved to death.
We've ordered two more packages of bees.
How would you go about cleaning and sanitizing this hive box? Some say leave it, the bees will clean it, all the way to the other extreme of bleach.
Eric Gunnar Rochow
Hi Terry, do not use bleach on your hives. take out each frame and knock it against a hard surface, like a table edge, to knock loose the bees in the comb, scrape off any mold, and put the hive back together.
i would also duct tape the entrances - upper and lower - to keep wax moths out while you wait for your new bees. thanks, eric.
Josh Turner
One thing that may help your hives in the winter is to add another empty super to the top of your hive. It will give the bees more room in the winter and it makes feeding a little easier because you will have that gap. Just put your sugar cakes and protein patties on top of the frames in the last "active super" and put an empty super on top of it followed by your insulated cover and telescoping cover.
Danny Medford
My bees didn't make much honey I am feeding sugar syrup should I be feeding sugar cakes to get them through th winter.Thanks Dan
randy proctor
I sent a comment on my wife's computer and she put our email as [email protected]. It is new so please use which ever shows up when I send this email to you. We made the sugar cake on Friday 10-31 and it didn't set up hard. It breaks when we lift it out of the pan. I followed your directions of 5 lbs of sugar and 7 1/2 oz of water, we added 1 tsp of HoneyBeeHealthy. Please help us to use this sugar recipe to save it. Please respond ASAP! Thank you for your help
Eric Gunnar Rochow
Hi Randy, the sugar cake depends on the moisture level of the bag of sugar, I'd use less water if that is the issue. thx.
Warren Taylor
Thanks for the videos, they are well done.
Vicki
Ok, unfortunately I believe IVe lost my first and only hive during the winter (local very healthy purchase). I treated for Verona even though I saw no evidence, used a mouse guard, an entrance reducer, a moisture quilt, sugar feeder with honey bee healthy & wrapped with insulation board (northern Ohio) for the cold winter we had.
I opened mid March at 64 degrees full sun and didn’t see or hear any bees, sugar was not eaten, except dead ones that that blocked the entrance. I moved them out of the way but saw no activity, I put pollen patty inside just in case anybody was still alive but I’ll wait until 70 degrees to verify this total loss but my question is that I left 2 full 10 frame supers on for a super thriving hive last fall. Is it ok to take any remaining honey out to safely eat, & leave the wax on for the new bees I’ve ordered for May pick up (also local bees), I haven’t given up, quite the opposite, doing 2 hives this year. I have 4 nuc traps in trees, as I saw 1 swarm last year in my woods that I missed.