I checked some hives today. I wanted to see a few things. I wintered my colonies with Bee Cozy winter covers. It was a sunny day, around 20 degrees. I wanted to see how warm the center strip of the winter cover would be. Touching the strip with my hand, I could feel the whole center strip was very warm to the touch. It would be very easy for the bees to fly out of their top box hole.
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| bees doing cleansing flights |
A couple hives were short on stores. When I looked under the inner cover there were bees all over the top box. Seeing this in late December is a clue that the hive is short of stores. I did add some winter patties to hopefully get them to February.
