Are you ready for the Odfrank overwintering challenge?

[Goat Man]

Can I get in here? OCT. 1 I had 1 ten frame double deep, 3 eight frame triple mediums and 2 eight frame double medium hives.
All still alive today. All started winter with 1 1/2 supers of honey stores. I plan to add a 12 pound sugar board to each in December for insurance.

[odfrank]

Ollie. I think you could probably learn a thing or two from Adrian on hive box appearance.

How does that ugly pastel green look better than my nice olive green?
In your 42nd year of hive accumulation come show me that yours are all the same color.
Its not how you make it big but how big you make it.

[Goat Man]

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I got some purdy hives too.

[Charlie B]

Nice hives Goat, you're in.

[Charlie B]

I don't know what looks worse, those boxes or your bee suit!

[oblib]

Lost one. Is mid-sixties today and sunny so I went out to watch the bees. One hive just did not look right. Way too much activity and no pollen going in. Decided to open it up and found it was being robbed out. Had been queenless and also looked to have gone laying worker before it died out.

On the plus side I caught the robbing early enough that I was able to snatch 2 1/2 medium boxes of capped or just torn open honey off of it. Since it was warm I opened any hive/nuc that I was worried was low on food and gave them some frames of food. I still have a couple that are very weak,(made them up too late), but none that are low on stores now.

[minz]

I think I am down a nuc. I put my mating nucs out split in half and as I said in September it was a final ditch effort to get them QR. It hit 50 out here and the big yellow thing shone itself for a brief instant. All were flying but one nuc and the swarm that is under the eve. Not confirmed yet but I pulled out my keys and pulled a bunch of bees from the entry hole.

[Adrian Quiney WI]

In reference to OD's post #122. If I get to 42 years of beekeeping I'll be 87. If you are still around I'll repaint them all the same color for you. You can choose the color Mine are a mish-mash as well tan, brown, green, and I'm about to break into a can of pink. All you saw in picture was a run of boxes I had just painted.
http://s1110.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=6&o=1

[odfrank]

That is a stunningly appropriate chain of colors. Charlie see, white is DUMB.
Nice handholds.
However, I don't approve of making nucs in the bedroom. Charlies' wife kicked him out of the bedroom for that.

[squarepeg]

hey! i happened to like white!

[Charlie B]

hey! i happened to like white!

Ollie, listen to squarepeg and Harry, a little color coordination would give you a more professional look!

[StevenG]

Sorry I'm late chiming in, but if it isn't too late, October 1 I had 27 live colonies, treatment free. I came out of last winter with 30 hives, but it has been a difficult year for a lot of reasons.
Regards,
Steven

[squarepeg]

if we are talking overwintering losses only, last year i had 10 of 10 make it.

for this year, i have lost 3 during the year, but added 11 by splitting, catching swarms, and i bought 2 nucs.

i sold one, so that puts me 17 going into this winter.

(no mite treatments were used, and very little syrup).

i think most of these 17 should make it through this winter, although i have one or two that are marginal.

[MeriB]

One hive didn't look right when I put the candy on it earlier. Today there were bees flying from all but that one. Supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow and I plan to check it out.

[odfrank]

I came out of last winter with 30 hives, but it has been a difficult year for a lot of reasons.Steven

Down 10% during the summer? That should disqualify you right from the start.

[squarepeg]

mine were summer losses too. scratch me off the list.

[rweakley]

Down 10% during the summer? That should disqualify you right from the start.

Hey be nice. I don't know what else StevenG was dealing with but we have had a horrible drought here in Misery. That alone could have caused him to lose some hives.

Rod

[odfrank]

It's not the summer losses that are a strike against you, I had those also. It is the fact that you did not dramatically expand your apiary that indicates you might not be trying had enough to out do the rest of us.

[Zier64]

ive got 10 right now! 3 being Nucs 7 full hives

[Daniel Y]

I think I may have lost my top bar. No surprise there that colony was, A new word to me, A dink. In person I use far more colorful phrases to describe it. I didn't find out until to late what I should have done with it. Which was pinch the queen and use the bees to boost my two nucs. I was holding out to see if it would do better in the spring.