# Next winter I am storing my hives in the root cellar at the farm!



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Why are they dying, NIPlumber?


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Read the book fifty years among the bees on line for instructions. Search the forums for stories of those who have done so. I think treating mites, wrapping and putti g on a MC feder rim would serve you better and be less work.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

NorthernIllinoisPlumber said:


> I do not plan on attaching tubes, I cannot imagine an issue with the bees flying thru the cellar to the exit.


They may "let loose" in the cellar before they are outdoors.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I think there are probably easier ways to get your bees through winter. What do you think is causing your dead-outs?

Deep attention to the basics: adequate mite control, more than just sufficient food and environmental improvements to the hive itself (wind barriers, proper ventilation and insulation) seems to do the trick for me. I'm not losing winter hives even in a harsher climate than yours. My bees aren't special and I am not a particularly skilled beekeeper, just a determined one. It would break my heart to have the kind of losses I read about here.

BTW: I also think that your bees without a direct, dedicated, exit tube will fly out in the basement, and get chilled and die without finding their way back to the hives. Have you seen the pictures of Ian's enormous wintering shed and the wheel-barrow loads of dead bees he has to dispose of? And he keeps his shed at the thermostatically-controlled optimal temp for the whole period in order to minimize losses.

Enj.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?295359-Over-Wintering-in-the-Garage-Update


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

It's not your falt that the bees die. More like the human race that thought it was so smart we could do anything we wanted and not have anything go wrong. We have spread so many deceases around the globe we are lucky we haven't started to die off. My advice would be search out some queen producers that have selected for winter hardiness decease resistant mite resistant and use some kind of mite killer then make sure you have enuff honey in your hive to last the winter. Learning how to make your own queens will help. Making nucs to replace the dead outs. When I first had bees all you had to do Is put the supers on wait till their full and capped extract the honey now it's a little harder. Sorry for the rant


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## NorthernIllinoisPlumber (Aug 17, 2010)

A variety of things have been killing them off over the years...
-moisture
-starvation
-just disappear
-not sure, piles of bees

Just one more idea to try I guess.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

NorthernIllinoisPlumber said:


> A variety of things have been killing them off over the years...
> -moisture
> -starvation
> -just disappear
> ...


Anything but varroa mites.


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## Lightswitch (May 29, 2014)

Not meaning this towards the OP, but why are people so resistant to believe they have mites? Just plain ignorance, or denial?

The beekeeping books I've read before starting my colonies made mention of Varroa. Interestingly though the mention was relegated to the Pests section, towards the end of the book... If you are starting from a colony from a package, like I did, dealing with pests was the last thing in my mind, but a reality nevertheless as you read story-after-story of folks losing hives "for no apparent reason."


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## NorthernIllinoisPlumber (Aug 17, 2010)

They have mites, missed putting it down.


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

a basic rule is indoor hives need total darkness. I think ya need to some more home work. poor wintering was the reason cellars were discontinued years ago. they need correct temp. while maintaining fresh air. a modern controlled environment is much different than the old fashioned cellars.


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## thehackleguy (Jul 29, 2014)

NorthernIllinoisPlumber said:


> They have mites, missed putting it down.


did you treat for mites? Just curious, I never had any sign of mites all summer last year. No dwindling numbers, no deformed wings, no pulling of infected brood, no mites on drop boards......nothing. I treated with OAV in early fall and my bottom boards were FULL of mites! I'm just guessing but I don't think my hives would have made it if I didn't treat.


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## SS Auck (May 8, 2015)

after the first couple of responses said mites maybe not keep posting it. Also Hackleguy if you didn't treat til fall the winter bees were all hatched would have already contracted any viruses the mites would have given them. The mites have to be kept at a low number all year to benefit the hive.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

so what southern state you getting your bees from?


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## thehackleguy (Jul 29, 2014)

SS Auck said:


> after the first couple of responses said mites maybe not keep posting it. Also Hackleguy if you didn't treat til fall the winter bees were all hatched would have already contracted any viruses the mites would have given them. The mites have to be kept at a low number all year to benefit the hive.


I was just relaying my experience as a reference, the OP said "They have mites, missed putting it down." but didn't say anything about treating so I was wondering. Maybe your right, I don't know, I haven't lost a hive yet this winter. But there is still time.

NorthernIllinoisPlumber, just a hint on my managment I have other non-treatment methods of mite control that I didn't mention during the summer I just wanted to mention about the mite drop at the time of treatment 

SS, also I was just thinking about it and all of my hives were full of worker brood when I treated so I'm sure that treating when I did helped. They were not producing drones anymore.


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## lowhog (May 5, 2015)

So far this winter were at 100% survival rate and our hives are in the coldest climate in the lower 48. We have California Italians so the type of bee doesn't mean squat as far as I'm concerned. Checked on the queens pattern late summer. Treated for mites in the fall with Apivar strips. Made sure they had plenty of stores. Wrapped with insulation and tar paper. Wicked the moisture with quilt boxes and a upper entrance. Many nights bellow zero and a few minus 25.


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## Lightswitch (May 29, 2014)

lowhog said:


> So far this winter were at 100% survival rate and our hives are in the coldest climate in the lower 48. We have California Italians so the type of bee doesn't mean squat as far as I'm concerned. Checked on the queens pattern late summer. Treated for mites in the fall with Apivar strips. Made sure they had plenty of stores. Wrapped with insulation and tar paper. Wicked the moisture with quilt boxes and a upper entrance. Many nights bellow zero and a few minus 25.


What kind of hive bodies setup did you winter them in?


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## lowhog (May 5, 2015)

Lightswitch said:


> What kind of hive bodies setup did you winter them in?


Langstroth hives. Colonies are in 2- 9 1/2" deeps with 9 frames in each deep plus a 6 5/8" super with ten frames. They are insulated under the bottom boards and top covers above the quilt boxes also. Full sun.


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## bean tree homestead (Nov 18, 2013)

Dan the bee guy said:


> It's not your falt that the bees die.


 slow:applause::v:
does this mean I don't get any credit for aiding in them living?? I am in my second winter 7 hives no losses (knock on wood) but I can not afford to be passé about keeping them alive. Its ok to have bees die but if you want to be a successful beekeeper you have to know the WHY and you have to care enough to find out and do something about it. Their seems to be a spaghetti on the wall approach for fixing the OP's problems, that he wants to remedy. I am guessing and I don't relish in the fact that he will likely quit in the next few years. The fact that he left out the number one killer of bees in his original post as one of his causes makes me believe that this will be so. 

I remember being at a bee meeting and hear a group of guys in the back talking about college football, they knew every player and his stats they knew where he went to high school at and how fast he could run and just tons of information. Well as the day went on one of the same guys brought up in the meeting that they were having problems with mites and how losing hives and it really bothered them. This same group were unaware of how to treat, or test, and did not know about the life cycle of mites and when they will most likely out populate the colony.. no they did not know about any of these things but yet they could tell me which college football players were likely going to be drafted to NFL teams. The moral to my little story is most beekeepers who cant keep bees, suck because they wont do their research and home work, which is mandatory when keeping bees. In the information age which we unequivocally live in, the "well I don't know" is not an excuse any more. Some one on this forum has a signature line that says "if my bees die, its my fault". You bet your butt that is the case and until you start taking responsibility and doing your own research, you wont be in a position to truly change any of it. Now because I have done my home work I too have looked at the root cellar option and I am happy to share it with you http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc96593/m1/1/
but it did not really fit the bill for what I was looking for but I "Magically" have no loss issue.


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