A Honeybee Hive in Winter

It's been 5 months and spring is in the air!  The queens are laying again, the girls are out on cleansing flights on warm days and some of them are even starting to despair at the impending job of spring cleaning!

I had intended to describe buttoning up of the hives, but somehow it never happened.  Here's the short version:

Back in November, both hives were heavy with honey and ready to wait out the cold winter.  I reduced the entrance down to a 1" slit and added a metal grate to keep out mice.  Then I added an upper entrance to allow airflow through the hive -- this is critical to prevent condensation that will drip down onto the bees and chill them dead!  It also gives them a route out of the hive when snow blocks the lower entrance.

Finally I wrapped the hive with wax-covered cardboard and threw on a heavy brick to keep the top on in windy weather.  The black cardboard gets quite warm in the sun even on a very cold day and helps to add a little heat to the hive.  It doesn't help too much though since research has shown that the inside of a hive is only around 3 degrees higher than ambient temperature, largely because the bees need constant airflow through the hive to keep condensation from causing problems.  The bees stay warm by huddling together in a ball and "shivering" or beating their wing muscles without moving their wings to generate heat.  They keep the temperature inside the ball well above 70F all winter long and later in the winter when eggs and brood are being raised they keep the temperature no lower than 95F!

Here's a picture of the hives after a winterfull of snow:

Both hives are still alive and well, and I'll go over my recent visit in a future post (well before another 5 months go by I promise!)