# Did you lose any hives this winter



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

5 of 5 alive here in East Central Iowa.


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## gfbees13 (Sep 25, 2014)

I didn't lose any. One of mine died early in the fall though. Reason unknown. Could have been SHB.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I know where all of my hives are. Haven't lost any. 15% of them are empty of bees though.  Lowest Winter loss in memory.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

sqkcrk said:


> I know where all of my hives are. Haven't lost any. 15% of them are empty of bees though.  Lowest Winter loss in memory.


Did you do anything different than normal, Mark?


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## philip.devos (Aug 10, 2013)

Yes, lost 3 of 5. The first 2 I suspected would not make it. The last one was a bit more painful; the bees were right next to the mountain camp sugar, but did not seem to realize where they were. They were alive as of 2 weeks ago.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

jwcarlson said:


> Did you do anything different than normal, Mark?


Probably. But I'm not sure what. laugh laugh

I treated last Spring with Apivar strips and them used MAQS late Summer and the rest of the Apivar strip that I had leftover. They don't get better with age. lol

I made a lot of splits last Spring, so I had quite a few new queens. I also had heavy hives going into the Winter. I ran hives short so the top brood box got honey stored in it before honey supers were filled. Didn't get a big crop of extracted honey, but have enough.

It was 80 degrees here in SC today and the bees ignored the spilled syrup, so I figure there was at least some nectar coming in part of the day. Until the bees started getting nasty this afternoon. I hope they get heavy before going to the blueberries in two weeks. So I don't have to feed them while they are there.

I had some nucs which I made up in SC which didn't really start growing until I got them back to NY late in May. I kept them growing through Summer. Then I kept most of the honey I made in medium depth supers to set on these nucs which I put into single deeps.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I lost just short of 25%. The vast majority of the losses were in the isolated yard where I have been pursuing treatment free. I am beginning to think that is live stock abuse. Congratulations to those managing it but I am about to give it up. The treated half wintered stronger colonies and minimal winter loss.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

I trekked through mid thigh wet snow 2 days ago to check my main apiary, It was a bright sunny day with temperatures in the 50s. Several hives had bees flying. one by one I went down the line, Hive after hive I could hear the buzz of bees inside, all were buzzing I got to a single hive all alone in a new row I started last season but could not hear the buzzing, so I placed my ear to the hive and tapped on it, still no buzz. I thought to myself one out of 46 ain't bad! I then removed the block I had atop the cover and lifted it. the bees came out by the dozens. so I quickly closed it up. all the hives in that yard made it. But I am not thumbing my suspenders yet. I have just over 50 more hives about 1 hour north in lake effect snow country. I can't even get to them yet. maybe another week or so before I can. but I am keeping my fingers crossed.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

20/20 still alive. Still too early to relax.


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## chickenia (Apr 13, 2012)

Seven out of seven strong.....still a tad early in these mountains and the weather all over the board. They are wrapped in heavy tar paper - have an entrance on top shim where I've had nutritional sugar blocks...they look VERY happy, I am thankful!!!!


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## crabbydad (Apr 29, 2012)

lost 1 of 6. I have a 5 over 5 nuc that looks very strong and one of the full size hives has a small cluster. this hive has a queen that will be 3 yrs. old this spring so starting her 4th season. hopefully all that are alive now will make it, although i won't be surprised if the 1 weak hive doesn't


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## SpringGreen (Jun 26, 2014)

Just one, a nuc. They had plenty of stores, but it looked like they just couldn't move to the stores. 

I only had three hives and a nuc, so it's a bummer, but the hives...wowsa...opened them for a minute today to assess stores for the final weeks of winter, and they look terrific. Very strong.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

87.3% successfully Wintered. Why talk about loss when you have live colonies?


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## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

Lost 2 out of 35. One was mites the other was starvation.

Don't assume bees died of the cold. Very unusual that was the single cause. More likely mite counts were high and the cluster got smaller and smaller. End result is they cannot generate enough heat.

What killed them? Cold or mites? Mites!


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## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

I lost 1 of 14. The cluster got too small to survive the cold in the one that failed. It was a split from last year that battled queen problems most of the summer. It finally got queenright August 1. My guess is there weren't enough young bees. The other 13 are in really good shape.

The great thing is they will have two weeks of good flying weather while maples are blooming. That should really give them all a nice boost. I've never had that happen before.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Checked 180 this week. Nice clusters. Most still heavy enough. Lost 8 with another 4 weak, which I consider lost. Fed about 10 with fondant.

Losses were from: 4 starved, 2 drone layers, and 2 from varroa/virus.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Michael Palmer said:


> Checked 180 this week. Nice clusters. Most still heavy enough. Lost 8 with another 4 weak, which I consider lost. Fed about 10 with fondant.
> 
> Losses were from: 4 starved, 2 drone layers, and 2 from varroa/virus.


How was your winter compared to average up there, Michael?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

jw, I'm about 120 miles due West of Michael and we had more snow and lower temps than usual for much of the Winter. February's average temperature was in the single digits. Michael's may have been similar. Though there is a large lake in between us.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Our average was 11 in February I believe. Lows dipped to just shy of - 20F a few times too. Then suddenly the spring flood gates open and we have been above 50 for the last few days. 60s for the next few. 

Was just curious. You both certainly get more snow than us.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

My winter was not as bad as I expected it to be, but I lost 25% of my nucs. My biggest surprise is how weak those that made it are. Sunny and 60+ temps starting Saturday so things are looking up.


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## Tommy Hodge (Jun 4, 2013)

6/6 still alive...! 1st year over-wintering a double 5 frame nuc...she has made so far...!


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## cblakely (Sep 6, 2013)

I was declaring victory a 3-4 weeks ago when I found all 9 still alive. Just checked last weekend and it looks like one may have died. 

About 1/2 of them are really strong and the other half are kind of weak. The strong ones came from 3 that were over wintered last year and I split 2 of them (Mike Palmer queens), also seem to be strong. The weak ones are from new queens, I bought last summer. I am hoping they will all be strong next year with another summer under their belts.


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## dixieswife (Apr 15, 2013)

Last year, we lost our one hive early winter; this year, we've got 100% survival on both hives. Neither had used much of their stores, either. Now the TBH is booming with brood, and the Lang is picking up as well. Unlike many of you our winter was pretty mild.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

jwcarlson said:


> How was your winter compared to average up there, Michael?


Colder. Bees just had their first flight since November 25 on Monday. Another on Wednesday. Many days below zero. While we were in the UK, one town near us was -37. Water mains in our village froze, broke, and the hospital and the hill section were without water for days...these water mains are 7' in the ground. 

One thing I've learned over many years of beekeeping...cold doesn't kill bees.


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## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

Michael Palmer said:


> Colder. Bees just had their first flight since November 25 on Monday. Another on Wednesday. Many days below zero. While we were in the UK, one town near us was -37. Water mains in our village froze, broke, and the hospital and the hill section were without water for days...these water mains are 7' in the ground.
> 
> One thing I've learned over many years of beekeeping...cold doesn't kill bees.


Ditto. Water service lines froze in the ground. The frost line right now is between 5-7 feet depending on soil type.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

I lost one hive in November. The remaining 3 hives are coming out of winter very strong. I'll keep my fingers crossed though.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

40% dead, some of those surviving may be questionable. One deadout I ripped apart this week showed they starved with honey not more than two cells away. Really considering going with triple deeps now.

Lost some (untreated) going into fall.


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

4 of 4 still alive, even the extra cutout I did (#5) is still alive. I did MAQS in the fall (almost too late really) and kept Lauri's sugar blocks on top all winter.

I think the sugar blocks are probably the biggest reason they're all still alive. The bees raved over them (i.e., ate them up regularly). My blocks are cut into about 4x6 inch pieces and I put 4 together on the top of each hive. We replenished a total of 3 times this year.

Now with warmer temps we will start feeding syrup until the flow starts. We are still recovering from the year before, losing 3 out of 4. Every hive is two mediums right now, and once we get to maintenance level with 3 mediums on each we don't expect to need to feed as much during the winter. We'll feed in fall if light and then stop once enough capped honey/sugarwater is in the top medium. At least that's what I think TODAY. Tomorrow may be different.


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

BadBeeKeeper said:


> 40% dead, some of those surviving may be questionable. One deadout I ripped apart this week showed they starved with honey not more than two cells away. Really considering going with triple deeps now.
> 
> Lost some (untreated) going into fall.


If you'll pardon a thought from a relative newbie, our bees were on double mediums here in TN, and in the cold weather they were up against and crawling over the sugar blocks. Our blocks go straight on top of the frames, with a 2" shim between there and the inner cover. If the cluster is at the top of the frames in your deadouts, perhaps using Lauri's blocks next year might help.

Again, advice from someone who lost 3 of 4 last year in the same temps, but didn't lose any this year using the above method. I consider myself fortunate at this point.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Am proud to brag that all 14 small cell IPM hives survived the winter. 
9 of them are filling honey supers.


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## funwithbees (Mar 27, 2010)

sqkcrk said:


> I know where all of my hives are. Haven't lost any. 15% of them are empty of bees though.  Lowest Winter loss in memory.


Sqkcrk, are those winners the hives that are up here in NY or down there in SC where its a little warmer? Just curious :scratch:
Nick
gridleyhollow.com


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

My colony count in SC is now 87% successfully Wintered. 412 live colonies out of the 472 I brought down here last November.


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## scituatema (Aug 30, 2014)

Michael Palmer said:


> Checked 180 this week. Nice clusters. Most still heavy enough. Lost 8 with another 4 weak, which I consider lost. Fed about 10 with fondant.
> 
> Losses were from: 4 starved, 2 drone layers, and 2 from varroa/virus.



Mr. Palmer,
how big cluster/ frame is a nice cluster for now ?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

6-9 frames of bees with some clusters extending down into the second box.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

I should have chimed in about two weeks ago, I thought I was a hero. Pulled the mountain camp sugar and tried to super up and found two of my double deeps had no bees. Literally no bees, not dead, not head in a cell nothing. If I did not know better I would have thought somebody stole them and replaced the frames. We had no winter here, warmest and driest on record. I am at 10/15. Two did not go in queen right, Two in the last month with bunches of blooms looks like they absconded, one just because. I have one more that is really struggling. 66% success rate and lost only one of the new hives.


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## Bee Whisperer (Mar 24, 2013)

My worst winter ever. I lost seven, and six were from starvation; even though I fed, and I didn't extract anything off any of the ones I lost. Even treated for mites and seemed to have only a few. We had a lot of warm-ups here between cold snaps, and I am just wondering if they become active and eat more when the weather does that; making the stores go down sooner. Not certain. I will use the stronger hives to fill back what I lost.


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## johns bees (Jan 25, 2009)

Lost one of 4 . but the. 3 that remain are going gangBusters. I think a mild winter here in the PNW help,alot.it is mid march and my plum and peach trees are blooming


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

rweaver7777 said:


> If you'll pardon a thought from a relative newbie, our bees were on double mediums here in TN, and in the cold weather they were up against and crawling over the sugar blocks. Our blocks go straight on top of the frames, with a 2" shim between there and the inner cover. If the cluster is at the top of the frames in your deadouts, perhaps using Lauri's blocks next year might help.
> 
> Again, advice from someone who lost 3 of 4 last year in the same temps, but didn't lose any this year using the above method. I consider myself fortunate at this point.


In the years past, a full deep has been enough for my Carnis, but this has been the longest, coldest winter I can remember. We didn't set a record for the absolute lowest temp (that would have been 2009, I think, hit -25 and stayed there for three weeks here in my little valley, some other areas set records for low temps, -30 to -50 IIRC) but it's been colder and snowier than I can remember it being for a long time.

I use reversible inner covers that the flip side has enough room for placing blocks or fondant, or making a candy board. After this winter's experience, I expect that next winter I'll make up blocks and place them ahead of time, and/or candy board some inner covers, just in case.


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## ahickman406 (Mar 26, 2014)

I finally finished cleaning out the 4 hives today. all of the hives still had honey in them. All of the hives had 3 to 4 pounds of dead bees in them and all of the dead bees were within 3 or 4 " of capped honey.
I looked at some of the dead ones in each hive and did not see an mites or shb's. I just ordered 4 3# packages at the recent NIBA meeting and will try and be a better BEEK this next season.
Thanks for all your input
Art


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## spreerider (Jun 23, 2013)

4/4 alive in BC with an incredibly wet winter.


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## dleemc1 (Dec 31, 2012)

lost 3 out of 32 here at home haven't checked the out yard yet, will one day this week


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