That's another wrap!

Two weeks ago I put the wrap on the hives because the nights were consistantly chilly. For my two monster hives I pushed them together and put some R5 insulation all around but not in between the hives and then I wrapped it with some used tar paper. I also placed a box and shavings on top of their inner cover. These shavings should absorb any moisture that does not escape.

My monster hives(each gave 200lbs) are wrapped an ready for winter.

A few days later I also wrapped my 4 hives at my home. I used a 'bee cozy' wrap for each one and I put insulation on the inner cover. Mouse guards have been on all hives for several weeks now. A few days after putting on my last covers, this is what I woke up to! For the first time ever, I had my covers on before the first snow.

First snow with covers

 A few days later it was almost 10 deg during the day. I placed all of my syrup from cleaning up the feeders into a plastic bottom and my bees were cleaning it up.

Bees foraging on hardened syrup.

The bees are still busy during the day when it is around 10deg. But I think winter is on its way and they should enjoy their freedom while they can.

Hives with 'bee cozy' on ready for winter.

This signals the end of the season, there is nothing left for me to do but hope that my preperations will hold the bees through the winter. On clear winter days, I do take off the mouse guard and scape out the dead bees that may block the entrance.

Winter! Mouse guard cleaning

See dead bees in snow!

It is just crazy to see how much time has gone by since I have posted. I am sorry for the disconnect. You can tell that it is winter time in the bee yard because there are so few articles in the newspapers about beekeeping! It is rather depressing. I suppose it gives us time to catch up on our magazine subscription reading.

Custom mouse guard: with bee bodies stuck in between the nails

For the last 2-3 weeks in my area we have had sub zero temperatures, meaning that the girls have not been able to get out of the hive and fly. This leaves a fairly big pile of dead bees waiting to be pulled out of the hive to clean up the hive. When there is a nice day(I typically do this twice per winter season), I take off the entrance reducer/mouse guard and clean the dead bees off the bottom board.

Scaped out dead bees

Moisture buildup

My side hive which I combined to make a two box hive right before winter, had a fair amount of moisture build up on the bottom board. To counter this moisture, I put a wood chip on the edge of the hive cover to allow more air to escape and be exchanged from the hive. When I removed the mouse guard to scrape out the dead bees, I noticed that there were some alive bees mixed in with the dead ones! That is because this is the only hive that I do not have a slatted rack for! Which would have allowed for an air space (which helps with moisture and allows the bees to hang lower in the hive).

That's a wrap!

The weather has been quite cold lately. There has been some pretty hard frosts and lows of -5C. Lately the highs have not been more than 7C. The reality is that we are headed towards that dreaded winter season. I spent a night up in Northern Ontario and we got 3 inches of snow.

A piece of insulation is placed on top of the inner cover

 The bee cozy wraps fit snug around the hives but they also have a seem on the front of the hive which allows moisture to leave the hive. This is very important. Cold does not kill bees, moisture does. Look at the hive cover. I switched it over after taking the picture. Notice the corners have little stubs them which will allow a tiny gap all around the hive. This will let the warm humid air which comes from consuming honey in the cluster to escape.

Wrapped hives

The bee cozy wraps take literally 20 seconds to install. It is wonderful!

Ventilation holes allow the hive to breath

Left is a custom cover: R5 blue insulation + tar paper wrap

 My smoker was working insanely well tonight. The smoke was pretty strong and thick. I found myself being choked out by the smoke on several occasions.

Smokers always work the best when not needed

This is essentially the end of the beekeeping season. I installed hive entrance reducers/mouse guards but I forgot to take a picture of them. Now I can only hope that my bees have enough honey stores to make it through the winter and that they will not be plagued by disease.