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Your welcome. I hope you found some it useful.
Good Luck !

Here we can shoot them in defense of life or property. No permit required. The bear goes to the state though.

You got me there. That is a P Poor fence, only because I had to order the wire and didn't have enough, I live in a remote Eskimo village the local store don't have much in the way of bear protection....

My bee yard in summer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYnnOVwEg8Y

Interesting. Thank you for that.

I have bears to worry about so I need something a little more stable than that. My ratchet strapping them to a pallet locks them down pretty good.

I am also on a hill so that would not work too...

These are Arctic Hare tracks. They are huge white rabbit about the size of a fox. the Snowshoe hares are much smaller. Google them , they are pretty interesting.

Its very windy here, I have to ratchet strap my hives or they will blow away. Pallets work great for that. 2x4s not so much.

Thanks for the responses folks and always good to see other northern beekeepers wintering methods. Thanks for sharing.

Here is a better picture of the wraps I use. This particular one has been on...

By April my bees have been in the box for six months, so my bees ARE in a hurry for a cleansing flight. If its working for you there don't change a thing.

This spring my big hives had about 5-6...

That could very well be true. But without a upper entrance, my bees would not get in their cleansing flight, because the bottom entrance is buried in the snow.

Saltybee the wraps are called Colony...

Good point. I should of mentioned I am in Alaska at 62.05 N 163.3 W So we don't get any hot weather like that. At 70 F I pull the entrance reducer, and we don't get much hotter than 75 F

If your...

My bees used to fly at about 38 F when sunny.

After I painted my hives black, They fly at 35 F

My three hives and a nuc going into winter 2019-2020 They were treated with two rounds of OAV got a mite drop of about 50 both times. Might do another round yet, the Alaska fall has been mild so far....

I use a empty medium super stuffed with dry straw, on top of a inner cover with a screened 3 " feed hole for ventilation.

On a nice day you can pop the top and pull out the straw and dry it, and...

Honestly I think mountain camp is a bad idea when you can use sugar bricks, and add them on a cold winter day, and remove them with ease in the spring.

I took 25 lbs of extra bricks off my hives...

I noticed my bees bringing in what I thought was pollen. But its fall time here in Alaska, and we had several good freezes and nothing in bloom now.
I followed them to see what they are getting and,...

As a new beekeeper,I thought I could jar feed my hives up to weight. Nope Not happening with my bees. I had to open feed, or starve them. I have not found a feeder that works as good as they can.

That's just what I see on Craigslist. No commercial guys here

I bet your Manuka honey would get that here.

Alaska beekeepers in the Anchorage area, are getting $25 a pint and $45 a qrt

Thanks Vance. I hope I didn't jinx it now and lose them all this winter, and delete this post in the spring. lol

I want to also mention that with the three deeps you need to get into the hive...

Thanks for the heads up Grozzie2 I didn't know that. Although I never considered leaving a super of Fireweed honey for bees to eat when it sell for $20 a pint here in Alaska.

Thanks Greg. I hope it helps someone save a hive. When I was starting out (not that long ago) I checked in here for wintering advice and there was none.
As far as the empty deep under, It is a big...

I hear about beekeepers in Alaska that throw their bees to the wind every fall. I hope this can encourage more to overwinter. Its not that hard. And yes your bees can survive Alaska cold just fine. I...

I feed a pollen patty in August when they are making winter bees. And then again in the spring when I know they can get out for cleansing flights. This spring they didn't really brood up much at all...