It was 28 degrees this morning, the girls are nestled in the hive in a small, tight ball. So far, they are holding their own. We need to get through to March to see if they go the distance.
My mentor owns a fancy FLIR device and came over this morning to take a picture for me. The bright orange is the heat escaping and the dark red in the center of the hive is the cluster of bees. this puts them the exact center of the second deep I built out, right under the candy board. Which is just about as good as you could hope for on a chilly January morning.
The bits of orange at the bottom left and the top left are the 2 entrances to the hive, the 4 slots of orange at the bottom are showing the ground under the hive (in case you wanted to ask..)’
At the end of summer, my local bee club got together and spent a morning creating what are called sugar board. a very thick layer of sugar (12 ounces of water to 12 lb’s of sugar, pounded into a frame) This, along with the supplies in that top deep are giving the bees the food they need for these winter months.
Here is what the sugar board looked like in December on a warm day. The board sits on a hardware cloth and there are holes on the edge to allow the bees to go up and out if they need the top of the hive.
The bees create the moisture they need during these winter months by collecting it inside the hive. there is a lot of condensation from their heat. They turn that into their water source, and use it to dissolve the sugar up above them, and feed each other from that. Barring extreme weather, I have a measure of hope that I may make the next 2 months with these girls… /fingers crossed.
Winter education
While there’s not much to do in hives right now, there has been plenty of time to get caught up on my podcasts and reading.
I have been asked what are good resources to learn about beekeeping. I’ve certainly found that there are a great many resources and opinions about those resources. Below is a list I’ve grown to enjoy:
Youtube sites:
David’s education videos were what really got me jumpstarted last winter knowing what was what.
Kamon is a commercial beekeeper in Tennessee, his videos are incredibly good to lean about many different hive types and topics.
This one is a very deep technical podcast. Great for getting your thinking on
Bob is one of the bee keepers of note in the US that is worth giving a watch to
Fred’s podcast does great reviews of products and answers all manner of questions weekly
Podcasts
John and his cohosts put on very educational and entertaining shows every week. it’s a must stop on my podcast rotation!
Listening to Kim and Jim sit back and talk lets you in on what a beekeeper’s liar’s bench would be like (except they never seem to lie!)
Beekeeping today
This is a great interview format show that drops education every week
Kevin Ingland does a phenomenal job with this podcast. it’s not weekly, but when my player says there is a new episode, i’m diving into it.
Neonpenguin 