I was wondering how have people over wintered their bee hives. Specifically how do you keep the bees from all being killed by hard winter temps that dip into the -10 to -20 degree F temps for periods of time.
Any suggestions or actual real life experiences keeping them from being killed by the very cold temps?
Covers, hive guard protectors, etc?
Thanks for all advice or references.
I would say the biggest things that have killed my hives in winter is; first varroa mites, as soon as you get a couple weeks of freezing weather and they will die if they are too weakened by them; next is mice they will kill the queen and pick off bees; then not enough stored honey to make them through the winter; lastly the hive getting too much of a draft and the bees wonāt move around to get honey and will starve.
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I like to prepare for the winter by saving frames of honey to feed them if they get low or donāt have enough(or making a splitš). And when its in the fall (before the temperature drops for good) I situate frames of honey to be close to other frames of honey, then clean any weeds/grass around the hive to make inhospitable for rodents and put a windbreak of small square bales around the hive. Edit- bees also like to work their way up through the winter as they eat, not down.
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beekeepers here will move their hives in early dec. into a shed for the winter. putting them back out in early April.
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Not low temperature itself but dampness in the hive during overwintering is particularly harmful; so, consider solutions for ventilation of the hives, and also the position of the hives, to avoid shady, damp sites for overwintering. Of course, strong, healthy, clean colonies and plenty of food.
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The hives are pretty heavy. They must have some sort of rolling carts to do that, I would think.
It is my sonās first year of having a hive.
He did have some of those mites but got ride of them. He is just worried that the deep cold he gets there will kill off his hive. He was thinking of something he could cover them with to keep out the bitter deep temps we get at times. They are sort of protected from wind by some tall shrubs. It is the actual cold that is his concern.
Would surrounding the hive with those hay bales work? How far out do you keep them from the actual hive itself? Even close to the opening?
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When I put the bales around, is actually not as soon as it starts freezing because thats when mice are most actively moving, but when it starts getting to the teens and single digits. I just bump them around the hive without blocking the entrance, basically just keeping the wind off it (also from blowing across the entrance) not so much insulating it.
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That makes sense and thank you for the clarification. He is more worried about just what you mentioned- the single digits and below zero temps.
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yes. they have them on carts. id think nowadays just putting bales around the would be ok but we may still get -30 in the future despite it being warmer lately.
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Biggest killers are starvation due to varroa and moisture dripping onto the cluster. They an handle extremely cold weather if they have enough honey a are healthy. And mouse guards are needed.
I usually use moisture boards, I also got some āUltimate Hive Coversā for some of my hives. The inner cover is angled to move water off to the sides. My winters are getting more and more mild, but 4x8 sheets of foam are easy to attach around the hives (just make sure water canāt get under it).
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Do you have a link for those products? TY.
Great advice and suggestions form everyone.
Thanks to everyone.
You didnt mention your configuration. Iām guessing two deeps. If they will take it, feed 1.25 syrup until October 1st. Then switch to 2:1 Be sure you have a low mite count. R-10 insulation on the top of the hive. R-5 on three sides, nothing on the front. A sugar board placed around Christmas time. Some kind of mouse guard needs to be set around the entrance.
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A moisture board is made from homasote board, you should be able to get it from Home Depot. Just cut a small entrance/vent on one side and place it on a shim over the hive in place of an inner cover in winter. Some places sell them, but itās way cheaper to cut your own.
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Great info. I will let him know of this. It just may be what he is looking for.
Masbustelo- he mentioned using sugar boards in the winter. Your other advice is appreciated as well. He did have some mites at one time so he checks them regularly. He did add another top layer on top a few months ago.
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I have kept bees for 5 winters in our -40+ C winters. I close them up in Oct. and they were not opened till April. The big things are varroa mite control, feed, and top insulation.
Varroa brings viruses which kill the bees, some places, very few, can support hives with no varroa control.
I take rigid styrofoam boards and screw them to the hives, tape would work as well, or you can use other types of insulation, depending on how cold it gets where you are. The most important insulation though is not on the sides but above. Put an empty super on top of the hive and fill it with insulation, I used a piece of rigid styrofoam and then old down pillows, anything would do. The important thing is to have the top more insulated than the sides so any condensation will form on the walls of the hive and run down to the bottom where it cannot hurt the bees. Tilt the hive a little forward so it runs out the bottom and does not freeze the entrance over. I have a small upper entrance so if that happens the bees still have a source of air. I also bank up the hive with snow when it comes, but you might not need to do that.
I put sugar bricks I made right on top of the frames, covered that with a piece of clear heavy plastic and then a piece of fleece cloth that does not go right to the edges, about 1ā away so extra moisture, if there is any, goes up and does not drip back on the bees because of the cloth barrier.
This plastic allows me to quickly sneak a peek on a warm winter day and see if they had eaten all the sugar, bees can die in quickly if they run out of feed.
If the feed is low and it looks like I was in for a cold spell I would slip a few more bricks under the plastic. Bees move up in winter as they eat, it is warm above but once they get to the top of the frames and honey is all gone if it gets cold they sometimes cannot move over to new stores and then starve, that is why we put sugar up on top of the frames, insurance to get them thru until the weather warms.
Hope this helps a little, remember lots of insulation above is key in cold zones
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Thank you for all the great suggestions. This really helps.
Thanks to all that have offered suggestions.
What is an empty super? Maybe my son knows what that is. I do not know. Thanks.
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Just an empty box without the frames. Once it is full of insulation it makes a great top
to a winter hive.
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