Winter Photos

 Winterized hive. Wrapped in tar paper.

 Guard bee in front of entrance to hive with metal mouse guard in place.

Bee Spittle!

Winter Update

This is LONG overdue (as my Aunt Michelle never fails to mention!). After the honey harvest, the bees enjoyed a month or so more of agreeable weather/feeding (we brought the topfeeders back out and medicated/fed sugar water for a month or so). After that we got the hives all ready for a long, cold winter. We did this by wrapping the hives in tar paper--like what is on your roof--and used a staple gun to keep the pieces in place. The black paper helps to keep the hives warm and block the wind. We also placed small, metal mouse guards at the entrance to discourage any "visitors." If you were to walk by and listen, you can hear the ole girls buzzing away happily inside and you would notice a few outside keeping guard.
I promise to post pictures of how the hives look in the winter set up soon.

Until then though, here are pictures of our newest addition enjoying a bath. Angela was born right after honey harvest on Oct 13!