Bill Truesdell said:

>Now is near the time to feed your bees either candy or sugar to get them
>through the time that brood starts and they can forage. If the bees are
>at or near the top frame they will need to be fed even if the hives are
>still heavy with honey. The problem is the honey is not over the colony
>but below or around it.

    I live in western Pennsylvania and wonder at what ambient temperature
are the bees able to move honey stores around. I successfully overwintered
nine hives and they are still heavy with stores. Several days ago the
ambient temperature got up to 75 F. The day before it was in the mid 50's.
The bees were really busy bringing in a light tan pollen. I thought the
bees would have moved stores to where they needed them since they usually
know better than me on how to run their hive. As the hives build up, I
realize their requirement for stores will increase and if the weather
doesn't cooperate they could be in trouble. Thus my question. Below what
ambient temperature would the bees not be able to move stores around?

    What effect would hive setup have?  This year I followed the advice of
Glen Stanley that appeared in the November, 2003 issue of the ABJ entitled
"Preparing Honey Bee Colonies for a Period of Dormancy and Cold Weather".
Most Beekeepers in my area do not wrap their hives as Glen suggested since
our weather is not as severe as his is in Des Moines, IA so I did not wrap
my two full sized brood chamber hives. I did follow his advice to cover
the escape hole in the inner cover with screen and then place a 3/4 inch
thick piece of styrofoam between the inner cover and the outer cover. I
did follow his advice to create a dead air space under the hive. I also
closed off upper entrances and followed his advice to "Acquire two pieces
of cedar shingle, about an inch wide and two pieces of lathe 7 1/2 inches
long. Place the shingles along the sides of the lower brood chamber (using
two brood chambers) with the thick end forward. Place the lathe along the
front from each side, so the entrance is in the middle." This middle
entrance and a 3/8 x 4 inch opening at the bottom hive entrance were the
only ventilation openings my hives had.

    Last winter I lost almost all of my hives by letting air flow through
the hives by leaving an opening at the top of the hives as some suggest
here on Bee-L. This winter I had no losses and the weather was similar to
the year before.

    I know that cold doesn't kill bees but I think Glen Stanley's method
of overwintering solves the problem of moisture condensing under the inner
cover since the styrofoam insulation enables the heat from the winter
cluster to keep this area warm enough so that the moist air flows across
the inner cover and then down the sides of the hive as it cools off. Right
after I had put the middle entrance in last fall I could feel the warm air
coming out of that hole.

    Glen Stanley mentioned in his article that his mid hive vent idea came
from Dr. Eric Erickson who, while doing research at the USDA lab in
Madison, Wisconsin, concluded  "That if there was a vent under the inner
cover allowing the humidity to escape, the bees simply create more of it,
as a colony requires some humidity, even in cold weather. Such a vent only
caused the moist air to freeze as the bees created more. "

    By following Glen Stanley's method, I think the upper hive body in my
hives is warmer than it would be with top of the hive ventilation and thus
the bees would be able to access nearby stores better so this might effect
the ambient temperature at which the bees can't access stores in nearby
frames.

    Sorry for the long dissertation but I think hive setup is important in
determining below what ambient temperature will the bees be unable to
access nearby stores. I hope some participants in Bee-L have studied this
enough to answer my question.

Jim

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