Protecting Beehives from Late Winter Starvation

Reader Contribution by Jennifer Ford
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Here in the northeast, we have been experiencing temperatures near zero at night, and in the teens and twenties during the day. It has been a long, cold winter for everyone, including honeybees! It is still much too cold to open up the hives to do a thorough inspection. However, this is the time of year when beehives can be lost to starvation, so it is important to try and do a quick check to make sure the bees have enough honey to hold them over until warmer weather arrives, and the first blooms appear.

To do this quick check, you need a day that is at least in the 40’s, preferably with plenty of sun and little wind. We were lucky enough to have a two day break with temperatures near 50 degrees, so we were able to do a quick check of our hives.

While the bees are not usually very active this time of year, they are likely to be very unhappy when disturbed! I take the usual precautions of using a smoker and veil, although it does feel very strange to be walking out to the beeyard with a smoker and veil when there is a foot of snow on the ground!

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