Proper Scandinavian Winter gives birth to strong colonies

 The December has turned snowy and very cold. Temperatures can go down to -11'C but apparently this will change soon and we will get back a more mild winter. I wish we had a normal freezing Scandinavian winter to help wipe out the weak colonies since last year there were no colony losses in Denmark thanks to the mild winter 2013.

 I just love to see hives covered in snow :) That snow acts as extra insulation

This is the magical view from the hives :) This is what bees see first when they exit the hives :) But behind this idyllic small forest garden of ours mono-crop fields stretch far and wide. Such forests are truly acting like Noah's Arks or like an Oasis surrounded by a desert. We need to plant more and to force our governments to protect more areas from pesticides, deforestation, urbanization and mono-crop agriculture.

Let there Bee snow

The snow has arrived at last :) Winter came late to the Scandinavian shores as it happened last year also. I was a bit worried because Snow Drops started blooming in some parts because of the mild weather. Last year the early spring flowers bloomed in January and the bees have missed some of them entirely! I honestly hope we get some proper winter cold. The minus will keep the plants dormant and certain amount of pests will also die in the cold of the winter. Another good thing is that those bee colonies not fit for survival will die and give space to those colonies with more adaptive genes.

Che Guebee Apiary in a white Christmas mood  

Middle of December +10'C !!! Where is the cold Scandinavian winter gone?!

Today is the 19th of December and usually at this time we have snow and minus weather in Scandinavia. I was out in the apiary and the bees are flying as its Spring time. It was +10'C today and yesterday! Very unusual weather for December must say! I wonder if they will have enough stores since bees are very active in warm weather and of course eat more.

 Here you can see the forecast 

 We had a few nights with frost but mostly it was mild and rainy. In this shot you can see our heavy clay soil saturated in water.

Throwing out dead bees is normal to see in mild winter days

Apiary December news and new frames

I was knocking a bit on the hives to see if the colonies are still alive. After each knock I would get a short buzz from the hives :) They are still much alive.

 Two of the colonies are staying on the first comb infront of the entrance. This is good I guess because they have much more stores at the back. In top bar hives each brood comb has a honey arch above it. 1/3 or even 1/2 of the brood comb can be filled with stores so there is no chance they can cut them selves off of the honey area at the back in case of very cold spells. 

I was a busy bee lately. I made 6 supers and made 12 frames for each. I will make many more before spring arrives. These frames are meant to be foundationless with only a small wax strip hanging from the top as a comb guide. I will of course use my own wax to make the strips.

Chop and Crop - frame transfer into a top bar hive

This is the way I do it