Note: do not open hives in the winter, no matter how concerned you are. Even if there is a problem, the ‘shock’ will often kill the hive. It will kill any brood they are trying to raise, and chill the whole box. Why Inspecting beehives in Winter is discribed here.

Why is inspecting beehives in the winter important?

There are a few reasons of Inspecting beehives in Winter like in January and February. The most common is to calculate losses. Waiting until the end of April to determine how many deadouts you have may leave you unable to replace them with good stock.

Buying Spring Nucs

It is now January 28, 2025 and we already have deposits on more than ½ of our overwintered hives. Our ‘estimates’ will be sold by the end of February. We will not know if we have any extras until April. But, the best overwintered hives and the best queens will go to the beekeepers who reserved their hives in January and February.

March is When Most Beehives Starve

We feed Hive Alive Fondant in the fall and winter. It is expensive. We just purchased 4 boxes to make sure we have feed in March. Because, in March it will sell out fast as everyone takes a look in their hives and finds out which bees need feed.

This year we have been watching our hives, for cleansing flights, dead bees outside of the hives, and tracking any day that bees can be flying. Because, the more bees fly, the more they consume.

We have also bee tracking the cold days. This year we had 2x more cold days than last year. When it is cold, bees eat more. This increases the risk that they will run out of food in March.

When you feed bees n March you should not use syrup, dry sugar, or pollen patties. The only thing that we feed between November and March is hive alive fondant.

The bees cannot digest syrup when it is cold. And, they pollen fed too early in the year can cause dysentery or cause other problems if the bees cannot get out to take a cleansing flight.

Bee dysentery vs Cleansing Flights

Nosema causes dysentery in bees, but not all dysentery is nosema. Bees can usually clean up dysentery when the warm air comes, but we prefer to treat if we find any sign of dysentery.

Poop on the outside of the hive is not necessarily caused by dysentery. It could be that it was cold enough the bees only crawled out of the hive and pooped on the box, instead of flying away.

For dysentery we prefer to look inside the hives. In theory, a beehive will never poop on the frames unless they are sick.

If I see signs that I have hives the ‘might’ have nosema, then I will buy the treatment early, before it runs out. I would rather give away a treatment I do not need, instead of needing a treatment I cannot get.

Also, if I see signs of dysentery, I will put off feeding pollen patties a couple of weeks, as this can compound the problem.

Cleaning Dead Bees from Hive Entrances

One thing we started to do a couple years ago was put hive entrances upside down in the hive’s entrance, so the opening is near the box, not over the bottom board. This gives us a ¼” space for dead bees to fill up, before the bees are trapped. We use a flat stick to clear out the entrances.  This is vital for a hive’s survival. We have seen entire hives die because they could not get out for cleansing flights, and fresh air could not get in.

Dead Bees in Front of a Hive

This is nothing to worry about. The bees that land on the snow were too cold to make it back to the hive. Other dead bees can be ‘old bees’ or bees that felt ill, who left the hive instead of dying inside the hive.  If there were 7 frames of bees in the fall, then a few bees, or a few dozen bees in the snow is nothing to worry about.

Predator Damage

Mice and Rats can damage bee cozies, wraps, and chew through insulation. Racoons and wind can knock over hives. Skunks can pull front entrances out, and eat the bees as they come out for cleansing flights.

If you are in bear country, then that poses another problem.

Bee equipment is expensive. It is best to clean up the equipment before spring weather invites wax moth, hive beetles, mold, and mildew into the hive.

As you become an experienced beekeeper you will learn that the comb on a frame is the most valuable commodity you have. It makes the difference between your hive being able to explode in the spring, or struggling for a month. Protect your frames with drawn out comb.

How to Inspect Beehive in Winter.

For Inspecting beehives in Winter first, stand back from the hive. Look around the hive for animal tracks, dark spots on the snow, and dead bees. Look at the dead bees. Do they look healthy? Are they fat? Are the wings deformed or perfect?  Is there fuzz on their thorax (middle part.)  If there is fuzz on the thorax then it is a winter bee or a young bee. If there is no fuzz, and the wings are frayed, then the bees are older bees. If the wings are deformed and twisted, or short, the hive has a virus.

Second, do not open the hive. Instead, we use a thermal gun. Ours is expensive, but you can buy a cheap one at any hardware store. I hold the gun in the outside air for a few seconds till the temperature stops dropping. Then, I hold it at the hive entrance. If the temperature climbs at all, even if it is still below freezing, it means there are bees in the hive.

Remember, your cluster may be at the top of the hive, and may be holding a good temperature of 60degrees. But, the entrance will be 10” away. The heat will rise, not fall. So, if there is ‘any’ heat at the bottom of the hive, then there is a cluster of bees in the hive making heat.

Let me say this again. I was terribly upset when I first started to do this, when the outside of the hive was -10, and the hive was only -7. I stressed that -10 was still too cold, I thought. But then I had to accept that 90% of the heat is ‘inside’ the cluster, not in the hive box. The heat is also at the top of the box, not the bottom. The top of the box is where we have R24 insulation. It has the most insulation value. So, the heat at the top of the hive is ‘saved’.