It's me first year with honey bees. Can anyone tell me the best way to winterize them for winter here in northern lower MI.I've read a number of books but none of them tell how to do it in a snowbelt.

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 17, 1999

Answers

By now you should have --given your hives a fall varroa treatment (Apistan)

--treated for nosema (Fumidil)

--applied a small amount of terimycin against foulbrood

--inserted entrance reducers

--reversed hive bodies as necessary

--cleaned leaves and other debris from around the outside of the hive

As for wrapping your hive--there are two schools of thought on that. I hope someone in your locale will respond with more pertinent information. I'm in the SW cornor of PA. Some snow, but nothing compared to what you're going to get. I don't wrap. The case for this being that you don't want your bees to be overly active over the winter or they'll eat their stores early and starve. The other school of thought--perhaps more appropriate to your location--is wrap the hives or they'll freeze!

You might take a look at the following site:

http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/Default.htm

Allan Dick is a Canadian beekeeper. He definitely wraps his hives. You might take your cues from him. You can also link to the bee-l archives from his page and search for any pertinent discussions on winterizing.

What kind of bees are you keeping? How many hives do you have? I've got 16 colonies of Italians and ARS Y-C-1 Carniolans. I prefer the Carniolans. They simply appear to be a healthier breed. Any question, just ask. Answers not guaranteed.

Jim Lindstrom Oak Forest Apiary Oak Forest, PA jcrocket@alltel.net

-- James Lindstrom (jcrocket@alltel.net), November 20, 1999.

I don't know if this will work, I'm considering trying it. I'm going to make a solar heater for my 4 hives. They will be in a insulated box that will heat up during the day but will not allow them to leave the solar box so they will not die. I hope I helped.

-- darin harder (darinhar@polarcomm.com), November 27, 2000.

I had a very experienced old beekeeper tell me that he puts one or two sheets of newspaper directly over his frames, pours white sugar over that and covers it up with the winter cover and the top. He said that in our area of the country (northwestern WI) humidity was more lethal to the bees than the cold. His theory is that the sugar absorbs the water condensing from the bees and the bees can then chew through the thin layers of newspaper to get to the moistened sugar. He has done this for years and I tried it one year with great success until a bear wiped me out in the spring. I sheltered my hives but didn't wrap them because any time the temp is above 50 the bees will fly on cleansing flights. If it is significantly warmer inside than out they will fly out and drop like lead balloons in the cold air. Make sure to keep the snow away from the entrance so they can get some ventilation. Good luck with your bees.

-- Peg (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), November 27, 2000.