I have three singe deeps and one double deep, all still alive. Fingers crossed they make it two more months of winter here.



Munching their sugar brick.



Looks they still have plenty of capped honey.

Just in time for the bears to show up for their first big meal of spring

Suppose to get in the 30s here next week. Hoping to get a general count of dead outs then. Still a long ways to go before they are out of the woods here as well. Those cold snaps in March sure can kill a lot of bees around here. You're probably a solid month beyond that up there.

I put a couple hives in single deeps just to see how or if that works this far north. They were both alive a couple weeks ago anyhow.

I have lost 7 out of 12 hives so far. On any day over 50F they are out gathering pollen from various tiny flowered blooming weeds. Not sure if they get any nectar from them.

Both my hives are heavy and alive as of Sunday.

My fingers are crossed they make it through tell spring. This is my first year bee keeping and I ended up with 2 hives I from the swarms I caught last year. I caught more than two swarms but combined a few. Once I lost a queen so was lucky I had a swarm with a good queen ready to give so combined them. Another was a small late swarm. I gave that queen to a friend that had lost one and it saved his hive and it was looking good going into winter. I took those bees and combined them with my weakest hive.

I'm learning a lot. I spent all year feeding and building my two hives up. I really hope that work pays off and they survive.

I'm hoping to expand up to ten hives this year if I catch enough swarms. I'm going to put traps out in other countries places than just my farm this spring. One I know has a hive that throws swarms in addition to the semi
load of hives that they bring in for the melon crops in that area. Will be making a 150 mile circle and hope to also supply my friend with a few good swarms.

If I pull this winter off ,I will go all in on singles next year. I managed in singles this past summer season and like it more than doubles now.

BP My bees have not flown since October. Won't fly until around April 15. You guys should have a maple flow starting soon I would think. Be good times for a beekeeper.

Treat your hives or the mites will overpower your bees during winter, they either starve out or mites get them . The cold don't effect them.

I plan on treating the first day I'm home that it gets up to 50°. But I'm only home 3 days a week most weeks. It's also been well below freezing with 4+"of snow for several days. nothing like a lot of guys get but cold enough I don't want to smoke them.


Every time I tested them with the powder sugar test I never got more than 2. These swarms seem very hygienic I hope they keep it up.

I smoked then the beginning of December just as a precaution but wasn't sure it was necessary.

Lost my only hive. During deep wet frozen snow the mice chewed threw my block on the landing pad that was supposed to keep them out. Ordering new this spring.

Bought a hive last year as I was going to remove barn wall and remove bees to put in hive. They were not removable. Now I have a hive and no bees. What time of year should I order a colony?

I started the winter with 8 hives. As of a couple of weeks ago I had lost two of them. I’m sure the last couple of weeks have not been easy on the bees. I’m planning on doing some splits and swarm trapping this spring.

You need to order now as most commercial sellers will be sold out by the time warm weather hits. My brother waited to late last year but got lucky and found place that had packages left. This year he already has his order in for a nuc and a 9lb package.

Haven't checked any yet. Running 23 hives here at the house and they are all snow covered still. Been very cold here for over 2 weeks. Yesterday it got up to about 16 and I had quite a few bees flying out and dying over the snow. Weird behavior I have never seen. One hive was hauling dead brood out that must have froze. Couple other have melted spots on topboard where cluster must be generating more heat to melt snow. I will get into mine in about a week when it warms up and see what I have left. I expect some queens are starting to lay decently and some others probably not started yet. No pollen around here yet and I decided to wean off the democrat bees wanting handouts. They all have honey - hopefully enough to get through. If not - I should still have enough to make more.........new queens laying good brood patterns are what I really enjoy. Kind of like keeping back heifers........

The sad thing about my bees right now is that they look just like yours yukonjeff. And I live in South Arkansas,there is not suppose to be that much snow down here this time of year.

Where is a good place to buy bee's? I have two hives I would like to start this year. Local farm store want $180 for 3lb box

I had six hives going into winter. Checked them about a month ago . Had lost one double deep, Added dry sugar on top of the rest. Others seem OK, they are melting snow off top of hives, too cold to inspect. I am wintering a 5 frame nuc, Was strong in fall. Put lots of extra feed on, Hope they make it. .Several local guys had some early dead outs around here. I agree , I don't think the cold hurts as much as starving and mites. Are any using oxyilic acid treatment, I haven't as of yet. Use strips. Any thoughts, and what were the results. Good thread. Bee Safe. old243

Oxyilic acid is what my mentor and I use. My bees were feral I caught and hygienic showing very few mites at every check so I only smoked them once going into winter as a precaution.

Honestly in to new and inexperienced to have an informed personal opinion so defer to my friendly neighbors and mentors opinions and methods. Seems to have really shortened my learning curve and been very successful so far.

Province farm: Consider changing to the alcohol wash instead of the powder sugar testing. The sugar is far less reliable....especially on humid days when the sugar clumps.

Tooltime: Unfortunately, that's the going rate nowadays. It's the same reason I decided years ago to never buy bees again and figure out how to make my own. Pretty soon they're like barn cats and you have more than you want to deal with. Many people just keep buying bees every spring. But that's how one needs to start off. A spendy start up for sure. It's kind of like trapping in the beginning (or nowadays)....Spend $100 to make $50...or zero.

Bee survival is almost all about the mites. We've all gotten behind on them and paid the price. Worst thing one can do it blame it on something else, though. Mine get treated 3 times per year minimum (and what most universities recommend now), but I have a few commercial guys around me so a fair amount of bee mingling going on.

Yukon Jeff: I'm interested to hear how your bees fair up there. My buddy lives in Kenny Lake. He says nobody tries to overwinter bees around him (best of his knowledge). Maybe I'll try and smuggle some bees to him the next time I'm up if yours work out

I lost 4 out of 14 as of last Saturday. Still a long time till spring.

If you have mites and do not treat you are going to have dead bees eventually, plus all of the diseases that the mites bring to the hives. Oxyclic acid is a good treatment for the brood less period in the winter but is pretty much useless any other time of the year. Start treating for mites as soon as you pull the honey in the spring and treat every 4 to 6 weeks with something until winter. If you can rotate chemical uses.

My daughter lives In Delta Jct and she just killed her bees every year due to the extreme temps.

Randy Oliver has been testing Oxalic Acid on sponges in the hives for summer (and honey flow) times of the year with really impressive results. The sponge sits between the brood chambers for 42 days. He has a recent youtube video on it and will have more to come. I suspect it will be the next commercially available mite treatment....although easy enough to make on your own. I plan on testing it myself this year prior to the typical brood less application (which here isn't until November most years).

Beav, I suspect that's the case up in those parts. People "think" its the cold when in reality its the mites. Less room for error in those regions as mites decrease the lifespan of the winter bees, thus virtually any mite load on a LONG winter ends up with dead hives. This is why I'm so interested in Yukon Jeffs posting. It's something I "suspected" but sounds like he may prove me correct ( for once in my life)