# And I thought that they were dead. Ain't



## z96Cobra (Apr 16, 2012)

Glad they are doing OK! I'm amazed that you have dandelions in Greenwood, we don't have any here in SE Indiana. Both of my hives were out & about the last couple of days but I didn't see anything coming into the hive.


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## Hoosier (Aug 11, 2011)

z96Cobra said:


> Glad they are doing OK! I'm amazed that you have dandelions in Greenwood, we don't have any here in SE Indiana. Both of my hives were out & about the last couple of days but I didn't see anything coming into the hive.



Thanks, it was really a relief to know that I still have a hive with bees. They had twenty-two bars filled with honey and pollen in November, so they should make it to warm weather. 
I have four tbh's, but I only put bees in two of them last spring hoping those would swarm and fill the other two. One swarmed, but evidently the new queen never made it back to the hive that died, and the swarm left town for other parts unseen I guess. I have two more three pound packages with queens coming from Tennessee on April first, and I might change that order to three packages. Each of the two or three packages will start off sharing the empty combs from the robbed hive that died, so they should be happy campers and get off to a good start in April.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I wonder if they clustered opposite of the glass since it could have been warmer or southern facing? Congrats on not losing the hive!


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Glad to hear they are alive and well.


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## Hoosier (Aug 11, 2011)

shannonswyatt said:


> I wonder if they clustered opposite of the glass since it could have been warmer or southern facing? Congrats on not losing the hive!


I hadn't thought about that's being a possibility, BUT they were on the side facing south, i.e., the glass is on the north side. Hmmmmm ?


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## Hoosier (Aug 11, 2011)

Mr.Beeman said:


> Glad to hear they are alive and well.


Thanks, it was a day that was one better'n Christmas... knowing that I still had a live hive with LOTS of bees.


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

Hoosier said:


> I hadn't thought about that's being a possibility, BUT they were on the side facing south, i.e., the glass is on the north side. Hmmmmm ?


Apparently honeybees can detect temperature changes as slight as .25C and respond. With that it makes sense that they will move to the warmest area in the hive.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I would leave the glass on the north side. It will act as a condensation sink and keep the hive dry and provide a source of water. You could try insulating the glass from the exterior to let it warm up a bit, but my guess is that the glass side will always be colder than the wood side, unless you put double pane glass in your hive!


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## praxis178 (Dec 26, 2012)

"Now available: The delux hive window with triple glazing"..... LOL 

I'd think the best option is a good layer of industrial felt (movers blanket etc) between the glass and the window cover.

BTW great to hear the hive is doing well!

Thomas.


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## Hoosier (Aug 11, 2011)

praxis178 said:


> "Now available: The delux hive window with triple glazing"..... LOL
> 
> I'd think the best option is a good layer of industrial felt (movers blanket etc) between the glass and the window cover.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Thomas, they're hidden on the other side and out of sight again. The temperature this week is in the teens here in Indiana. It's cold here in spite of the fact that when I left for Hawaii, I left directions to everyone in this frozen wasteland cornfield to have it warm when I returned Wednesday... nobody listened. In spite of all other Hoosiers' total lack of concern, it's going to be in the 50's/60's F in four days. Thanks for the suggestion, but there isn't room under the wooden window cover to insert a strip of industrial felt; that's a good idea though.


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## AkDan (Apr 13, 2012)

I am certain mine are dead.....glass is solid ice. Saw some bees coming out of the gap I left at the top to help vent the hive. 

havent been able to see a bee in either hive.....havent looked but a couple of times. Really think I need to build a shed for them for winter and possibly a better insulated tbh, or just go to a lang/warre


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## Colleen O. (Jun 5, 2012)

Sorry to hear that AkDan, I hope they surprise you and make it!

Mine were doing okay as of last week. We had a real cold snap this week but it is supposed to warm back up by Monday so we'll see how they are doing. My clusters are fairly small so I worry they won't make it, especially when it gets cold.


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## Hoosier (Aug 11, 2011)

Colleen O. said:


> Sorry to hear that AkDan, I hope they surprise you and make it!
> 
> Mine were doing okay as of last week. We had a real cold snap this week but it is supposed to warm back up by Monday so we'll see how they are doing. My clusters are fairly small so I worry they won't make it, especially when it gets cold.


Colleen and AkDan, hopefully our queens will start laying in a week or two, and we'll all have a boatload of new bees to bring in all the makings of honey from the tree blossoms soon afterwards. 
Come on SPRING!


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## SteveBee (Jul 15, 2010)

We use a piece of styrofoam the size of the window and the thickness of the wood for insulation. On one of our hives, I saved the piece of wood I cut out for the window and stick in back in there in front of the glass during the winter. But if a piece of felt won't work, styrofoam or wood probably won't either.


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