Winter losses ?

33% so far

Between November and February I had a 9% loss.

I am at 21% loss and it is not over yet.

75% still snow on the ground... most people I talk to in Ontario are getting wiped out something fierce.

Of 10 hives and 1 nuc, I lost 1 hive that was weak going into winter and my nuc starved. The other 9 hives are very strong.

I guess cooler weather is relative. After the third round we are at 11%. Bee are pretty good, weather on the other hand is pretty bad. Little to no opportunities for the bees to forage, too cool and wet.

Jean-Marc

So far no losses...fingers crossed it stays like that. Good luck not good skill

29% loss so far but with some that are weak it will be higher before April is done.

According to weather stats we have just had the coldest winter since 1898. We still have a lot of snow but the temps reached 11 c yesterday so it was warm enough that the bees were starting to fly. My son checked two yards with 108 hives. As near as he could tell without opening them there were 6 dead hives. These bees are wintered outside so they are still wrapped. He felt that these were the strongest hives he has seen that we have had come through a winter. Lots of bees in the air and on the hives. He put out pollen feeders and we will start bulk syrup this week as well. There are more yards to check but so far things look good. If the weather stays good we will look at doing some splits in a couple of weeks.

WBVC said:

So far no losses...fingers crossed it stays like that. Good luck not good skill

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Update...one hive had bees but could see no brood. Suspect the Queen died...
What would likely have caused that...new nuc install May 2013

Was able to get a NZ Queen and they seem to be doing well...fingers crossed.

Have had bees flying out of 8 of 8 hives in my back yard. A few days ago war the first general poop flights since November. Hives are still heavy enough and little of the dry sugar on top has been eaten. Too cold yet to do any kind of an inspection. Still a while yet before anything coming in.

We got to a 3rd yard that had 50 hives. It looks like about 4 dead in that yard. Hard to believe after the winter we had they have come through this well.

In western NY State, close to lake Erie we have had 3 days since January 1st 2014 where the girls could have any cleansing flights. This has been the longest, most brutally cold winter I have ever seen. In early Jan - one day - all 14 of my hives were alive. The next time they were able to fly was in March, and I thought all were working & cleaning the hives.
This last weekend on 4/5, 4 hives are deadouts, of which 2 that I've pulled apart had very large numbers. One had dysentery - possibly nosema, on the top most super walls and empty comb.
It looks like they starved and/or froze - head 1st in cells, yet there were still a couple of frames of honey. I do not take honey off in fall. The last 2 years I had no losses over winter. The other hives are extremely strong. - Sande

so far 4 deads on 88 but deadly april is on. if just 10 percent i will say it's a good year

just finished putting my hives out, very early as we are scrambling to emergency feed, so no real assessment yet but looks like our operation is running around 15%, due to starvation...
Hives look great, hoping for warmth

dgl1948 said:

We got to a 3rd yard that had 50 hives. It looks like about 4 dead in that yard. Hard to believe after the winter we had they have come through this well.

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Happy to hear that dgl1948! I have been getting emails all week long with a mixed bag of results. Seems like some hives under the snow did well, yet others suffocated.... just depended on the type of bank that was formed over the yard. The snow banks in our cattle yard were so hard our cattle were walking out over the fencing!! Cant imagine a hive trying to breath under snow like that
So cold too, many reports of starvation

Ian said:

Happy to hear that dgl1948! I have been getting emails all week long with a mixed bag of results. Seems like some hives under the snow did well, yet others suffocated.... just depended on the type of bank that was formed over the yard. The snow banks in our cattle yard were so hard our cattle were walking out over the fencing!! Cant imagine a hive trying to breath under snow like that
So cold too, many reports of starvation

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We did not have a great deal of snow, I would say about average. I think what helped us out was there was no break in the temps. When we get a few warm days the queens will start laying, bees stay with the brood, then it turns cold and they starve as they will not leave the brood. At least that's my theory and I am sticking to it.

15% loss

Down to 9 out of 14. But 7 are extremely strong.