SNOW & ICE

[BEEn Stung]

BEEn STUNG has anothe problem.
We had snow then rain and ice. I went out to the bees today. The bottom entrance was frozen over. Winter isn't even started yet. I cleared the entrance out but had I not been here it would have been froze up , at least for the 7 day forcast and posibly till spring. I have to soon get them set up for 4+ months on their own.
Should I build a "shed" roof over the entrance? How do you all keep the ice and snow off the entrance? http://www.beesource.com/ubb/confused.gif

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Erwin

[forestbee]

Although we lives far away from each other we had the same weather today, and I had the same situation with my hive, A local guru beekeeper told me you should always have a board setting on the setting just under the telescopic cover and going down to the ground about a foot in front of the entrance, I already got the board ready yesterday (it is 16" wide) but I got too busy and didn't install them, now I have them in place, but here is my concern it is start to snow early in the morning changed to ice pallet late morning then freezing rain early afternoon till now (7:00pm) I reached the hives around 5:00pm two of my three hives had both upper and bottom entrance was completely closed so I cleared in front of the gap, I notice in one of them many dead bees, so I am worry that they all got suffocated, I really wonder if anyone know how long a completely closed hive can survive before it ran out of air?

Regards,

[BjornBee]

You will be surprised at what bees can survive through.

In the heaviest snow and ice, it seems that the ice melts away from the hive box just enough to let it breath. I've seem a foot of snow up the hive and yet the bees on a sunny day will crawl up the hive front to the top of the snow to fly.

It is important to NOT have them break cluster in cold weather. Do not pop the top out of curiosity. As soon as the weather breaks above 45-50 degrees, you can take a peak if you don't notice any bees flying.

Just make sure the hive is tilted down to let rain/ice flow away from the entrance. If you have healthy bees, they will take care of the rest.

[MountainCamp]

The is very little chance that they were sufficated. Even the tightest fitting hive is not bubble tight and allows air to pass / CO2 to pass to the outside.
A hive works somewhat like your chiminy, in that, warm air rises and draws fresh air in through the entrance, gaps, and even snow.

[BWrangler]

Greetings

I have seen whole beeyards with snow 2' above the hive cover do fine. The warmth of the hive melts an area out of the snow around each hive. And the bees get enough air through the snow to survive.

It's dangerous for beekeepers searching on top of the snow for the beeyard, though. The hives are usually found when the beekeeper falls through the thin layer of snow above the beehive.

Beekeepers in the extreme parts of Russia and some in Canada actually cover their beehives with snow to protect them from the extreme cold.

Regards
Dennis

[Ian]

Make upper enterences in your hives. I see you are from Minnesota, so you will see some of the extreems of winter. With an upper enterence, there is no thought of the bottom enterence, the upper enterence will be of the prefered choice of use by the bees. The upper enterence will help in venting excess moisture from the hive and aid in your wintering success.
I have heard of hives completely covered with snow being an aid in sheltering the hives from the extreem winter conditions. I had one of my beeyards completely covered one winter, but also got covered with a layer of ice during a mid winter rain storm. I found my entire yard dead in the spring,. It pays to check yards during the winter time to time.

Ian

[BEEn Stung]

Thanks for the replies;
There is a house being built right over there. I will go to their dumpster and get a scrap for a "shed" roof like forestbee ssugested. Also I will as my son to check the entrance after storms.
You all keep the info comming and I will get this winter thin correct yet.

[BEEn Stung]

OK so I don't ype so well. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/redface.gif
I will have to proofread.
Can't spell either.