A long time beekeeper in the bee association warned me to expect 50% winter losses. I thought to myself which hive am I going to lose, the one I’m reluctantly feeding or the log hive?
I realize this is only the beginning of winter, but both hives have already come through hurricane-force winds, weeks of steady rain, and a few recent frosty mornings. The sun finally came out this weekend and to my happy surprise, both hives are still flying, even though the temperature was a mere 50 deg. F (10 deg. C) The log hive is still bringing in a surprising amount of pollen.
I was able to shoot the 2nd part of this video with my new camera that sports a 50x zoom. I don’t have to get as close to the hive now. 🙂
Hollowing out the log Constructing the base Bee Beard Gets Bees
Here’s a photo of the bottom board taken the next day…Some more experienced beekeepers say you can tell what’s inside the hive by reading the bottom board. I see flakes of wax, but I’m not sure about the rest of it…
Warre Hive Floor Board…Learning how to read the floor board. The layout of the bars are parallel with the bottom of this board. What do you see?
When it’s cold the bees hang out in the lower left of hive.
Status of bee hives one year later.
Here is Bernhard Zaunreiter’s assessment of my little Warre Hive…
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:09 am Post subject:You can see his example of a more healthy bottom board here…http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=88786#88786 (as well as follow the thread)
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Good to see them flying, at what temperature would you expect them to stop?
I see hives over here in Poland and wonder how they survive the winters, would it be a different breed of bee?
It might be a different type of bee, or they might just be in a tight cluster, not using much energy. I’ve read different accounts on how they survive the winters, and it seems if the winters are not too cold, the bees use MORE energy because they are flying around more.
I’ve seen a few hardy souls flying at around 47 deg. F (8 deg. C) but they don’t stay out long if the sun isn’t shining.
I love how your new camera picks up the bees’ sound from so far away! We’ve had a long spell of no-flying days and hearing your bees filled a void. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been watching your temps in Denver because I’ve got a sister there. Your highs are well below the honey bee flying temperature. I’m sure your bees are nice and cozy in their hives.
Maybe next week they’ll venture out…I see a 50 F (10 C) high on Tuesday. 🙂
Today it was 45 F (7 C) when the log hive started flying…sun was out and so were the bees!
My top-bar hive bees are doing well. They are occupying almost 6 combs, as far as I can tell, with plenty of honey still. When the sun hits their landing board, they come out and fan like mad. Sometimes there is a small puddle of water, and they can make it spray away in a fine mist.
Yesterday, I saw a couple of bees moving around by the entrance of my Warré hive. No flying but at least I know they’re alive. It is a small colony, but they’re dark so I’m hoping they are “survivor” stock. I think it was Michael Bush’s book where I read that dark bees are survivors, and they typically have smaller winter clusters. Can hardly wait for Tuesday, when I can pop the top and check on the fondant. I’m thinking of giving them a grease patty, as I’m finding varroa mites on the bottom board.
Your’s look SO different from mine, BTW. Are you feeding your Warré?
Hi HB,
Yes, after wrestling with the question of whether to feed the bees or not, I decided it was best to feed them. I got a recipe from a member of the local bee club that included chamomile and green tea, stinging nettle, and some peppermint oil. I mixed it with some granulated sugar, placed it in a frame above the brood box shown here… https://solarbeez.com/2012/10/18/waffling-over-the-warre-to-feed-or-not-to-feed/
Your bottom board might not look like mine because mine has mold on it. I included it in the blog because Bernhard Zaunreiter from biobees.com says you can ‘read it like a newspaper.’ I’ll post his “not-too-flattering report” on the blog.
Here on the Oregon Coast we get lots of rain. This year was about 55 inches. That might account for the mold.
At first glance all the dark spots on your bottom board alarmed me. I thought, OMG that’s a LOT of varroa, but then I looked at the enlarged version and realized it must be roly-poly mess. It’s so dry here (I think we got 10 inches of rain in 2012), so we don’t see a lot of roly-polies. I’m using a piece of corrugated plastic for my bottom board, and sometimes an earwig will be hiding out inside one of the channels. At any rate, the only debris on my bottom board is from the bees themselves. Oh, and the sugar I’m feeding them.
At last check, there were 3 bands of trash so I know the bees are most active on the first 4 combs. That’s the south side of the hive. Aside from sugar, there’s bits of torn comb, always quite a few bee legs, plus a head or wing, and an occasional varroa mite. (I’m preparing grease patties for Tuesday.)
I don’t have a window in the hive body they occupy, so I can only hope my little colony’s brood nest is half the box and, wishfully thinking, that honey occupies the other half.
I worried that I could only see one band of trash on your bottom board, but I think the roly-polies might be eating it. I wonder if they eat sugar, too, because there’s litte to none on your bottom board.
Those are very happy bees in your Bee Beard Log Hive, they really look like they love their unique home! Mild winters may stimulate queens to lay and so foragers look for pollen to feed brood and young bees, although they use up more nectar doing this and there may not be enough nectar around to replace it. Our bees appear to be doing exactly the same so, while they seem to have enough honey for now, we’re keeping an eye on stores just in case. Things can change very fast. I think our bees would a bit jealous of the Bee Beard hive! I like the assessment of your bottom board, looks like the hive debris is scattered so the cluster inside must be quite loose and active. What busy bees!
I cleaned off the bottom board of the Warre. I’ll be checking it more often now because I know what to look for…(sort of). I am concerned about the ‘loose cluster’ though. I guess I’m glad I’m feeding them a dry sugar concoction. Hope the log hive survives without any intervention. They survived last year on their own.
I was hoping to set up a larger log hive for 2013. Just found out the chainsaw carver moved to another city…that’s going to make it more difficult because the next log hive MUST be carved also. 🙂
A great read – very inspirational! All the best for 2013.
Interesting post, solarbeez. I forwarded to my husband (the beekeeper in the family) because he has been wondering how his bees are faring this winter.