[Chickensoup]

and the keepers don’t check on the bees and supplement if needed through the winter??

[Ghost of SVR4]

it’s difficult to check on them; they ball up in the hive. If you disrupt that through the winter you kill the hive.

[US Navy Vet]

No they DO NOT “Check” on them during the winter! The Bees around late Sept and into Oct seal the hives tight with “Bee Glue” called Prophalis(sp?) and if you open the hive during the winter you take a chance on killing them all.

[lee martell]

That’s what I was wondering. If he can tell the bees had eaten through all of their reserve, is there something we humans can supply to them as a temporary supplement? What about providing them with an artificial source of sugar? Some of this was inevitable, due to the severe weather.

[chessplayer]

and the keepers don’t check on the bees and supplement if needed through the winter??

---

These are bee experts. If it was that easy they would have done it.

[Adder]

Thought they were supposed to ...feed ‘em pollen packs or even straight sugar.

[FateAmenableToChange]

and the keepers don’t check on the bees and supplement if needed through the winter??

Not possible. The hive can't be opened unless the outside temps are 53degrees or above. Some people might have heated barns, but for most beekeepers it's not realistic.

[X-spurt]

Must have been wintering on sunny beaches like all other snowbirds.

Around East Texas the bee keepers supplement with sugar water during the winter.

[Hot Tabasco]

and the keepers don’t check on the bees and supplement if needed through the winter??

Finally, we got a cold weather bee expert here.

So tell us, just what did this bee farmer do wrong in the coldest and snowiest winter this state has ever experienced?

What kind of supplementation could he have provided for his hives?

[Osage Orange]

HA!!!!