A long winter's nap

After a summer of exploring every inch of the area around the old farmhouse, the neighbouring woods and on occasion the neighbour's pool, it was time for the hive to settle down and begin their winter hibernation while enjoying the fruits of their many, many journeys made over the last few months.

Before packing things in until spring, I switched out the hive boxes, one deep and one shallow, for thicker walled boxes that should provide a bit more insulation over the colder months. On the advice of my local bee supplier, I painted the boxes brown so that on those days in January when the sky is clear and the sun is shining bright the darker colour will absorb that extra heat and help the bees keep their home warm.

My supplier has many, many hives and last year, wrapped half of them with an insulated wrap covered in black plastic while the other half were not covered. His hive losses were 50% for both those that were wrapped and those that weren't.  His thought is that wrapping doesn't make a difference and it's a wasted expense. I value his opinion and his experience, dating back to when he was a child assisting his parents, is invaluable so I'm following his lead. The most important factors for the next few months are keeping moisture out of the hive and protecting it from the harsh winds we can experience.

Frames full of capped honey; hopefully it's enough to keep them well fed over the next few months.

Each time I enter the hive I keep any eye out for that elusive queen but she's rather shy.

But if you can spot her, please let me know!

I find it rather sad that the odds of my hive surving are 50-50.

With all of the stresses put on bees today this is just one more card in their deck that they could do without.

If you've ever thought about beekeeping, I hope this alone will inspire you to give it a try,

 without us bees face even tougher odds and without bees our odds are much, much worse.

~Bee well friends!~