# Wintering statistics



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Years keeping top bars:
15

>Plant zone: 

Zone 5b 12 years
Zone 5a 3 years

>Average lbs of honey going into winter:

~50 pounds (feral survivors and Carniolans)

>Hive preparation: ? (tarps, tar paper, insulation, wind break, etc)

None.

>Average hive losses in spring:
~25%


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## Colleen O. (Jun 5, 2012)

I believe there were other factors at play in my first winter's beekeeping losses but as I think compiling information like this is a great thing to do I am going to support it by answering and let you decide whether or not to keep it in the stats.

Years keeping top bars:
1 year 2 months 

>Plant zone: 

Zone 6a

>Average lbs of honey going into winter:

Not known but it wasn't enough! (One Alleged Buckfast and one New World Carniolan)

>Hive preparation: ? (tarps, tar paper, insulation, wind break, etc)

Wool over top bars covered by shingles under the peaked roof. The NWCs also closed their entrance with propolis to half an inch diameter or less.

>Average hive losses in spring:
100% of two hives
-one lost the queen and dwindled (Buckfast), other froze due to starvation (NWC).

>Mitigating Factors affecting loss:
-late start in a year that had an early spring
-waited too long to requeen a queen with a poor pattern. (Italian requeened to NWC)
-drought and heatwave. Should have fed sooner due to this.
-battled SHB in the Buckfast hive which ended in them going into winter with a small/weak colony.
-new beekeeper


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## VeggieGardener (Oct 4, 2011)

>Years keeping top bars:
3

>Plant zone: 
Zone 6b

>Average lbs of honey going into winter:
unknown

>Hive preparation: ? (tarps, tar paper, insulation, wind break, etc)
Lay a sheet of bubble-wrapped aluminum style insulation over top bars and on outer face of follower boards. Maintain year-round wind break that consists of a six-foot fence and evergreen trees behind the hives. Close down to a single entrance and add sugar bricks as emergency food reserves heading into winter.

>Average hive losses in spring:
Have kept two top bar hives each year and last winter also kept one top bar nuc. Have had one loss from a hive that came out of winter queenless and dwindled before I was able to address the issue and add new queen/resources.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

Years keeping top bars: ? 1.5
Plant zone: ? 7a
Average lbs of honey going into winter: ? 10 extremely weak hive going into winter.
Hive preparation: ? (tarps, tar paper, insulation, wind break, etc) None
Average hive losses in spring: ? 0

Hive dwindled to just a hand full of bees. was requeened in spring now has well over 100lbs of honey and is a 4 foot long hive packed full of bees.

How this one made it to spring I have no idea. It is what convinced me bees don't eat honey in the winter. they eat it in the spring during build up.


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## Silverbackotter (Feb 23, 2013)

Bump. Anyone else want to weigh in?


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## Teabag (Feb 10, 2011)

Years keeping top bars: 5th Year.

Plant zone: ? Sorry, not known but bit like New York. 

Average lbs of honey going into winter: 30lb

Hive preparation: ? None.

Average hive losses in spring:

Just one loss over past 4 winters. It was a small summer swarm in 2011 that didn,t make it past November 2011.


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## Silverbackotter (Feb 23, 2013)

Plant zone: 3-4
Average lbs of honey going into winter: 50-80
Hive preparation: nothing
Average hive losses in spring: 60%


Thought I would update a post from the fall. Lost 4 of 7. No good explanation on 2 with lots of stores going in, the other 2 I was worried were low. 2 of the three that survived was a shocker one only had maybe 40lbs and the other a late season trap out that then got dumped over. I hope I don't jinx myself with this post. We are real close to having some blooms.


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## Montyb (May 27, 2013)

Silverbackotter said:


> Alright as I am thinking about wintering top bars for the first time I want to poll ya'll, if you would be so kind. Please respond to the following
> 
> Years keeping top bars:
> 1year
> ...


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

Years keeping top bars: 2 starting my third
Plant zone: 7a
Average lbs of honey going into winter: no idea how much should a bar full of comb weigh? I had about 30 or so.
Hive preparation: ? none
Average hive losses in spring: 0 Bees are all the way back in a 4 foot long TB. Brood starts at about 35 bars back. Comb is heavily covered in bees starting about 20 bars back. Inspected yesterday and so far no forming of queen cells. When it does try to swarm I expect it to be huge.

I simply left them all the honey they made last summer. I added in 5 or 6 new bars this spring and they are working on all of them. I should just make a couple of splits from it.


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

Years keeping top bars: 7 years
Plant zone: 8
Average lbs of honey going into winter: 25 to 45
Hive preparation: no different than the active season
Average hive losses in spring: 18% maintain about 20 hives


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## brettj777 (Feb 27, 2013)

# of TBH's = 2
Years = 1
Zone = 5b
#'s of honey= unsure
Preparations = none (hive is made from 2 inch thick lumber)
Loses = 100%


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## mmiller (Jun 17, 2010)

Years keeping top bars: 8
Plant zone: 7B
Average lbs of honey going into winter: 50 lbs
Hive preparation: None
Average hive losses in spring: about 25% (run between 6 and 12 TBH's)


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## Sweet Bees (Sep 25, 2013)

years keeping top bars: 11months
# of top bars 1
Plant Zone 6a
caucasian honey bees started in new cedar kenyan style top bar hive in June 2013 from local source.
Average lbs of honey going into winter: unsure but probably about 30 lbs
Hive preparation: tarp loosely wrapped over lid of hive
Average loss: 0


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## Silverbackotter (Feb 23, 2013)

Update if anyone wants to chime in too

Years keeping top bars: 2
Plant zone: 4
Average lbs of honey going into winter: >70
Hive preparation: fiberglass insulation on top of the bars 

spring survival: 5/5 full hives, 1 of 2 nucs(needless to say the nucs didn't have 70lbs of honey)


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>spring survival: 5/5 full hives...

That's what you get for trying to winter top bars in a brutally cold climate.


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## onesojourner (Jan 9, 2014)

years keeping top bars: 1
# of top bars 2
Plant Zone 6b
Average lbs of honey going into winter: all that they could produce in one summer.
Hive preparation: r5 on top of bars.
Average loss: 50%, local small, july swarm made it. Purchased wolf creek (Georgia) bees built up quick and died over the winter with plenty of honey left.


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## dudelt (Mar 18, 2013)

Years keeping top bars: 3
Plant zone: 7B
Average lbs of honey going into winter: 50 lbs
Hive preparation: None
Average hive losses in spring: 33% of 3 hives
Lost to queen issues. Made it fine until March and the queen apparently died. The hive continues to dwindle and there are a few hundred survivors left with plenty of stores. This was a package installed last year and the only hive I did not re-queen in July. Treated with formic in August and OA in December.


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## Apismellifera (Oct 12, 2014)

Single hive, probably wild swarm taken last July, about 10 miles from my home.

Years keeping top bars: < 1

Plant zone: According to USDA, 8b
Are you doing usda?:
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

Average lbs of honey going into winter: unknown, but I fed 2:1 heavily in the fall, one oa dribble end of about Dec 1, 50cc.

Hive preparation: none, really, had them for a short time under shelter from the wind and rain. hardly had a winter, tho'.

Average hive losses in spring: 0 They survived and are booming

===================
I think you should also be asking about the bees origin - "wild" swarm, "kept" swarm, or package bees or queen, and perhaps how far away they originated.

Perhaps it's just wishful thinking but I hope to see natural swarms come out on top of this.

Is there a function to use polls here? They make this stuff so much easier...

If not and folks REALLY want it, I can set one up on one of my sites and maybe have a sticky post with the url? It would be nice to have ongoing stats year to year and the right setup would archive and chart all of that, and maybe more...


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## Silverbackotter (Feb 23, 2013)

Apismellifera said:


> Single hive, probably wild swarm taken last July, about 10 miles from my home.
> 
> Years keeping top bars: < 1
> 
> ...


Yes plant hardiness zone

I am not sure how to do the polling via a questionnaire . One can hand talley the stats no more than we have, it will take a couple years to get enough numbers to be meaningful.


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## HappyBeeing (Apr 6, 2013)

3 hives- Carniolan mutts

3rd year(2 winters though) first winter brutal(for Here), this winter very mild but wet
Zone 8
Honey going into winter 35lbs
Prep- Fed with HBH in syrup in late Fall,mouse guards,full time wind break,wrapped ("cozy" type) insulation with half-open ends for venting
Losses- None


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## HappyBeeing (Apr 6, 2013)

sorry double post


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

Years keeping top bars: 5
Number of hives: 5, with 3 currently occupied.
Plant zone: 8a
Average lbs of honey going into winter: Good question. I don't weigh my hives and the bees store a lot of honey over pollen and brood. I just eyeball them. Besides, winter can be more of a suggestion around here. January was mild, but February was brutal. 
Hive preparation: bubble foil insulation over top bars. I put up a windbreak this year for one hive.
Average hive losses in spring: I lost my first one this March.


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