Bill,

You had mentioned, "This (is) mainly for those who are new to beekeeping
and live in the far Northern US and Eastern Canada on this list..."

Frankly, IMO it should be a recommendation across the board, as even
experienced old drones can become complacent, and before you can blink
your bees are in danger of starvation. We get the warmest days followed by
coldest here in the Spring. Blackberry Winter always comes way after the
fruit trees bloom, when the blackberry blooms .

During such times of cold inclement weather of a week or longer much can
be lost very quickly either from complete lack of sufficient winter
stores, or as you mentioned the cluster won't leave the brood to get to
the stores. Most likely it is the latter in a hive carried over the winter.

Last year, 2003, at the end of March with the help of one of our State
inspectors I purchased 25 splits with a fall 2002 queen. They were very
good strong nucs, five frames each of 75 % capped brood covered with bees
with bees. And bees from two more frames shaken in as well- hive bees,
nurse bees! It was a warm afternoon with the promise that morning by the
weather folks of just a late evening shower brought on by a cold front
then more sunny warm weather for at least a week. I was after dark when I
got home 35 miles away from the yard where I had set up and left those
splits, and a cold wet snow was coming down hard.

Six days later, after snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain, and cloudy cold
rotten weather in the 30's and low 40's the sun finally came out. Two
inches of snow and freezing rain that night made the old logging road to
my yard impassable the next day. The freezing rain brought down pine trees
and heavy limbs from the hardwoods and the mud was slicker than a, well,
it was slick!.

I did not wish to bring any honey in deeps or supers onto the yard of the
gentleman that I purchased the splits from, and I thought that I would be
able to get them two or three full frames of honey the next day. When I
could finally walk-in to my yard along the muddy old logging road hand
carrying pollen patties and syrup I discovered that I lost 6 nucs and 6
more were so weak that I had to combine them. Lesson learned the hard way!

I should have either brought the frames with consent, which was given when
I got to the seller's yard, or lacking that gone back that night in the
dark in the snow and freezing rain and put on deeps with a frame or two of
honey. A lot would have been saved.

Bill, your post has great advice for every beekeeper, not for just the
inexperienced and those living in the North Woods. Bees need stores to
survive, and for their brood to live and grow, without carbohydrates and
protein a hive just cannot make it.

One other point, the last two years have been hard on our bees, real
hard.  The US weather has been unusual with more smaller cluster sizes
than normal (IMO) due to failed late summer and fall flows resulting in
less brood hatched and honey and pollen reserves being less than normal
(again IMO). A lot of beekeepers who either waited till late fall to feed
or did not feed for whatever reason are now paying the price as from my
sources winter losses all over the Mid-Atlantic states are high.  Feeding
now can help prevent additional losses!

Chuck Norton
Norton's Nut & Honey Farm
Reidsville, NC 27320

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