Well, last Saturday we had 51F so I went out and made a quick inspection.
In one yard I have 5 hives, only 1 made it. I'm not able to reach my other
yard
due to the snow depth, but hopefully I can get in there next week.
 
  With the apiary with the 5 hives I ran a little experiment. I've heard and
read
so much about outer covers that I decided to not use them for the first time.
Big mistake. We had a period of about one week with -40F (normal temp, not
windchill) and another week of high winds and cold temps, -80F windchills
were normal that week. I have ice and snow between the brood chambers. I'm
assuming the boxes were not tight enough and the cold and snow went in and
froze them out. I over winter in 3 deeps, the bees are still in the middle
box
and there are plenty of stores in the upper box.
 
 Lesson for the day: No matter what anybody tells me, or what I read, outer
covers are essential in my climate, and well worth the cost and effort. I'm
sure some of you out there will say "Of course they are dummy!", but I'm
one of those that needs to find out things for myself.
 
Regards,
 
Kevin Grabow
Dalbo, MN
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