I forgot to cover the bottom board of the bee hives 😭

[humblehillsfarm]

We started bee keeping a few years ago and were shocked at the amount of time required. We are lucky enough to be home a lot so we could do it, but it is a money-suck and hive loss is a consistent problem. We got them for bee sustainability from a local apiary, but the honey has been a nice bonus.
I have to say that if we had young kids or more time consuming jobs we would have already quit. Props to you for keeping them this long already!

Yes, yes and yes! I did get a new job at the end of September. I used to work 11 hour days five to six days a week, now I work 10 hour days four days a week. I am very anxious to see how smoothly my summer goes now that I have an extra day to get things done. I'd pull 16-18 hour days on the weekends standing on my feet ALL DAY to preserve food and get the garden done. Weekends left me more exhausted than work days!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Are your hives standard square hives or top bar?

Standard square hives.

 

[WthrLady]

It takes me a bit longer to add them to my ranching routing as I am allergic to the turds, but I do enjoy them.
I really enjoy rescuing swams.

 

[WthrLady]

Standard square hives.

I run top bars, which have a full open bottom wire mesh with eco floors. But with normal winter temps that can drop to minus 20 and windchills down to -40, I sometime use a solid board to help hold in the heat. They have wool batt attic insulation and cross ventilation and a hive wrap for winter.
Luckily, I make all that, so I don't see it as $$ loss, just time.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I run top bars, which have a full open bottom wire mesh with eco floors. But with normal winter temps that can drop to minus 20 and windchills down to -40, I sometime use a solid board to help hold in the heat. They have wool batt attic insulation and cross ventilation and a hive wrap for winter.
Luckily, I make all that, so I don't see it as $$ loss, just time.

Wait your temps drop to -20!? Fahrenheit? And you only sometimes cover the bottom?? That’s good news! I just mentioned in an earlier comment a local beekeeper I texted in a panic said she knew folks that never covers theirs so I’m starting to feel not all hope is lost. How do you make your hive wrap? One year we cut up a cheap sleeping pad from Walmart to wrap the hive and it seemed to work very well. That was the one year that we didn’t lose our hives.

 

[WthrLady]

yup -20F that's without the wind.
Living on the open flat Prairie is brutal.
Makes for crabby chickens and alpacas too.

The BIGGEST enemy for the bees is draft and condensation build up.
They guy down the road from me uses standard square hives, He has built two sided 4 foot tall windblock for each hive group out of tposts and scrap barn steel. (we do this also)
He also top sugar feeds as long as weather permits to help keep them going.
And wraps in black tar paper.

My hives have a wind block.
I also fill the attic with a large batt of wool insulation which allows the heat to stay in and the condensation to escape, and the air to circulate.
The hive wrap is a cheap moving blanket from Harbor freight, folded double thick and then a tarp wrapped over that to keep it dry.
All vents and opening are kept uncovered.
My other neighbor re-purposed a sleeping bag he got at goodwill.

 

[LizzzyJo]

For us it had always been more about the number of bees and the health of the hive than the winterization. Those that were strong hives survived.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

yup -20F that's without the wind.
Living on the open flat Prairie is brutal.
Makes for crabby chickens and alpacas too.

The BIGGEST enemy for the bees is draft and condensation build up.
They guy down the road from me uses standard square hives, He has built two sided 4 foot tall windblock for each hive group out of tposts and scrap barn steel. (we do this also)
He also top sugar feeds as long as weather permits to help keep them going.
And wraps in black tar paper.

My hives have a wind block.
I also fill the attic with a large batt of wool insulation which allows the heat to stay in and the condensation to escape, and the air to circulate.
The hive wrap is a cheap moving blanket from Harbor freight, folded double thick and then a tarp wrapped over that to keep it dry.
All vents and opening are kept uncovered.
My other neighbor re-purposed a sleeping bag he got at goodwill.

With a square hive what would you think about putting the wool batting under the hive top cover? I wish I had a picture of what we have going on. There’s a thin over over the top hive box with an oval hole in the middle and a little gap on the rim to act as an exits from the hive. Then there is a lid that goes over that.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

For us it had always been more about the number of bees and the health of the hive than the winterization. Those that were strong hives survived.

I’ve observed this as well. One of my current hives was very week to begin with while the other thrived. Not sure what the difference was.

 

[MarkJr]

Moisture is a bigger threat by far than drafts. Bees ball up during cold. They flex their flight muscles repeatedly to generate heat. As the outside of the ball cools, they rotate inward to warm back up. Wash rinse repeat until it warms up.
As long as they have stores, I’m 99% positive they are fine. Use a mirror and look up through the screen bottom. If there’s dead piled on the floor, they may have succumbed. If there’s 30-50, they’re fine. Just too cold for housekeeping.