Winter Prep

It may not be easy to see, but H2 (left) has a lot of bees flying around, entering, and leaving the hive.

Earlier in the week Scott, my professor, contacted me several times to let me know that both hives were showing that activity, but it seemed like they traded off. One would be flying around while the other showed normal activity and then the other would only a few minutes to an hour later.

In a short video Scott sent me, I at first suspected H2 of attempting to rob H1 (right), but decided this wasn't the case when I looked a little closer at the video and realized that the bees hovering around the entrance weren't dive bombing or engaging in battle. They were simply hovering around outside. When I took this picture for myself few days later, it struck me as interesting but not concerning. To call it safe though, I reduced H1's entrance with little stones to about the width of four or five bees. H1 is my weaker, more docile hive to begin with.

I have yet to find out why they were acting that way, but the next time I went back and actually opened their hives again, H2 (my more aggressive hive), was nearly as calm as H1... which was a pleasant surprise for sure.

In other news, later this week it will be dropping down into the 40s (Fahrenheit), so now is a good time to start preparing for colder temperatures.

My bottom board has screen in it due to the obnoxiously hot summers here, so without having to buy a whole new bottom board, I simply needed something that would prevent a draft from below the hive from cooling the rest of it.

You've seen these signs before, right? The sturdy plastic kind that clutter the sides of roads advertising everything from politicians to lawn care. It's okay to be that neighbor that gets sick and tired of them and takes them home... to put under your bee hives for insulation.

If your bottom board is aerated and you would like to avoid purchasing another bottom board, tilt the hive a bit and slide one of these signs underneath and you have insulated the bottom of their hive quite well. Cheap, simple, and the neighborhood committee would probably thank you for it.

Of course the colder it gets, it would be beneficial to take further action towards aiding them in staying warm during the winter, but that information will come later.

#coldweatherproofing #coldweatherprep #40Fahrenheit