To Rick and All, Rick wrote: "In the Northeast we have not had warm weather since mid December. Does anyone know how the cold has affected their bees? I can not even reach my bees without wading in snow above my knees." Although I live in the (cough, cough) South this has been a very cold and snowy winter. I use a stethoscope to check viability of my hives instead of lifting a cover or getting down on my hands and knees in the snow with a flashlight, (been there done that- not fun!). By rapping on a side of a hive and then listening with a stethoscope on at least two opposite sides I can get a "three dimensional" feedback by listening to the resulting BUZZ from each knock. Stethoscopes are fairly cheap and can be found in most drug stores. Within a short matter of time I learned to judge with a high degree of accuracy the size of the cluster and where they are within the hive, try it! I hear that a warm spell is coming to the eastern US this weekend! Chuck Norton Reidsville, NC