Three killers of bees (help your bees survive winter)

Three killers of bees (help your bees survive winter),
Can you help them survive? YES! Make every effort to help them make it through the winter.
After all, you did work hard to take care of them through the summer.
So this is what I have found works best for me, my bees, in my area. I I take all double deep hives and shake the top Hive into the lower hive. I move any brood in the top to the bottom hive, and put as much stores of honey as I can into the lower hive. I then shake all the bees into that lower box. It may not look like they will fit but I believe you can get them in there, I haven't failed yet to do so.
This will concentrate all the bees into a small area to overwinter. When all bees are concentrated into one deep box they will form a larger cluster in a centralized area.

The first killer of bees is starvation.
Bees can die just inches away from food especially on consecutive days of very cold weather. Bees will brake cluster on warmer days and move to food unless that takes them away from brood. On cold days they will not get a chance to break the cluster and move to food. So once moving them all into one deep box I will apply a sugar Patty to cover the entire top. This coupled with a large healthy hive of several thousand bees they will most always be within reach of food.

The second killer of bees in the winter is moisture, just the bees breathing will put enough moisture into the hive to cause problems on winter days. this is the second reason I use the sugar patty that I do is it will absorb moisture. Moisture will cause the bees to be chilled, their body temperature will drop and they will die. A wet bee will soon be a dead bee. So cover all holes in your hives narrow the entrance. If you have a screen bottom board cove it or block the air from going beneath the hive. It is also a good idea to place a mouse guard or a 1/2" hardware cloth over the entrance.

The third thing that will kill your bees, is a draft or a breeze. The bees will not be able to maintain temperature if they have a constant draft in their hive.

Next week we will show you how to make a winter sugar patty and how to install it.

Remember to count your blessings every day and I believe you will find you are blessed well beyond measure I know that I am bye

#homesteading #kentucky #honeybees #beekeeping #winterize #winter patty #candyboard #savethebees