WOW!
About a week ago, I posted a query given the thread "Shack'n up the goils" I said I would give answers in digest form. Here 'tis as promised. Hit <DELETE> if you don't care about the subject - the answers were many and lengthy.

I asked . . . 

I have three hives, that I plan to winter, when it becomes winter here in Kentucky (US). I want to put them in an old shed on my property. I know this has many advntages (sic) - any caveats . . . or are there any suggestions to maximize the benefits of doing this - At what temperature would you recommend doing this.

Al Wrote:
I caught your post about sheltering your hives for the winter and noticed your KY location. I'm in SE IL, about an hour from Paducah KY, and haven't seen the need for that level of protection,given our mild
winters. I know KY is a loooong state, but from one end to the other I wouldn't expect the winters to vary all that much. 

Anyway, if you are really determined to do this, I'll check with a fellow I know in Spokane WA who shelters his bees during the winter to see if he'd be interested in sharing some tips. 

I do think given our climate in this area, you might do more harm than good. The bees, if kept warm, will be much more active and will consume their winter stores more quickly.

String and Linda Monteith replied:
Why in the shed?  I kept bees outside in Northern Kentucky (12 miles NW of Falmouth).  They wintered just fine outside on the top of a ridge.  Is there
a reason, other than the cold, that you want to move them inside?  Linda (now in Ohio & still wintering outside with no special protection)

Ted Fischer stated: 
I cannot imagine any advantage of moving bees indoors anywhere in Kentucky, or for that matter much farther north than that.  My grandfather used to move bees
indoors in the Green Bay area of Wisconsin, but gave that up as being far too much work for little or no advantage.  Here in southeastern Michigan I have
never so much as wrapped my hives for the 21 years I have had bees, and unless mites or some other disaster st\rikes they do just fine. They basically need
protection from the wind, adequate ventilation and food, and a strong queen.

From Marc Studebaker:
The weather in KY allows for many cleansing flights thoughout the winter and I would recommend leaving your hives at there present location.  You should
prepare for winter by treating colonies for disease, provide an upper entrance, reduce the entrance, get the hive up 8" from the ground and make sure they have enough stores. Usually only beekeepers in the far north winter there hive in buildings.

From a Virginnie beekeep:
I would echo these thoughts for central Piedmont Virginia.  I've never found
winter to be a problem for the bees and what you speak of sounds like a great
deal of work for very little return.  Besides, you would need to move them
far away at first, let them acclimate to that area and then a week or two
later move them back again. As the old saying goes, you can move them an inch
or five miles - not much inbetween.  My advice would be to save your energy.


Allen Dick responded:
Like a lot of old sayings [previous post from Virginia], this one is baloney.  There is an element of truth in it and it is for rank beginners, so they will not get themselves into trouble. Sorta like 'Don't touch the stove or you'll burn yourself'.

Adults touch stoves and don't burn themselves.  Any knowledgeable beekeeper
moves hives anywhere he/she likes by observing bee behaviour and knowing when a
move will cause confusion and when it will not.  Generally, any time the bees
have not been flying much -- or preferably at all -- for a few days, you can do
pretty well as you please, if you take a few precautions.

There is lots of discussion in the archives under moving bees and observation
hives.


Here's one I hadn't thought about . . . 
This thread has been deleted often because it resembles so much of the Porn
Mail that abounds on the internet. ("Butt-Naked insects" will be my next thread, sorry about the double-entendre) 
 
Skip and Christy Hensler wrote:
After reading the other replies your received on this post I was going
to lurk due to feeling that I really had nothing better to add to the
subject.  However, Al Litherland, a good friend of mine from
sci.ag.bee.etc. wrote and asked me to relate what little experience I
had on the subject to you.

First of all, 99% of the replies you receive on this subject will
advise you to *not* winter your bees inside at your latitude, and I
will add my name to that list.  Having said that, I *do* winter my few
hives in a root cellar and even with our winters I am consider
somewhat strange around here for doing so.  I always wait until what I
consider as being the very last minute before moving them in, usually
based on the local weather report and most always sometime in Dec.  I
move them back out just as early as I can, again based on the weather
reports and usually in early Feb.  As an aside, a local beekeeper
friend of mine tried to put his under a lean-to one year in order to
keep the snow off the hives.  He ended up losing most of the bees as
they tried to land on *top* of the roof when coming in from their
cleansing flights...

About once in every five winters we will get down to at least -20 and
usually have a 20 mph or so wind to go with it.  This is in addition
to anywhere from 50' to 90' of snow on the ground [Washington State].  IMHO, *nothing* will kill off a hive as quickly as that combination.  As nearly as I
can recall, KY winters on average may get down to the mid teens a time
or two, with perhaps a few inches of snow on the ground?  With those
kind of conditions your bees should be able to make it through the
winter with flying colors and, more importantly, they will need to be
able to make cleansing flights whenever the weather moderates enough
for them to do so.

Like I said earlier, we don't get the killing winters every year but
it seems that when I *don't* move them in is when it hits the worst.
Likewise, when I do go to the trouble, and it is a hassle - even only
with a few hives to move in and out again - that always seems to be
the mild winter.

After all this babbling my recommendation would be to check the
sci.bee.etc. archives on wintering and leave your hives outside,
assuming that you leave them adequate stores and make some kind of
precautions to protect them from the prevailing winds.  If at all
possible, talk to as many *local* beekeepers as you can and quiz them
on how they get their hives though the winter.


Finally in a pro-shacking statement from "Earmails" in Canada:
There isn't really any need for it from the bees point
of view. But it is convenient for the beekeeper for a number of reasons. We move the hives into the beehouse (more or less just a shed) for the winter
and come spring move the hives to outside locations. The beehouse for us just means that the hive bodies are out of the weather, under cover, there is electricity in the shed, and also we are now putting the hives on boxes
where we can have a lightbulb burning underneath which helps some in keeping them through the winter (we have a big moisture problem due to the weather's fluctuations). A beehouse helps the beekeeper, not necessarily
the bees.

 . . .  Not that he can do much if they are in trouble, he wouldn't be able to open them up and correct a problem at that time. But he's thankful the hives are in the beehouse, it's not a fancy one, just some shed he calls "the beehouse". So he steps up and stands behind the hives (we went into last winter with four
hives), puts on the electric light (beats holding a flashlight with your teeth), knocks a bit on the hives and judges by the quick uproar - yep, still ok, still kicking, seem fine, or even uuh ohh what's going on now.

Then he lifts the lids and checks on the glasses with syrup, gives another if one is empty, turns the lids around if there was condensation underneath, and if all seems well, turns off the light and treks back to
the house back through the deep winter. It certainly makes the beehouse seem like an oasis of peace when just a few feet the snow is deep, still falling, wind blows, it's dark and gruelling, but he knows that shed he so
fanciful calls a beehouse gives off just that extra iddy bit of protection that might make the difference in his bees survival for another looong winter.

It's much hard work moving the bees back to the beehouse for the winter, and I dread doing that work shortly. But I assure everyone, it's worth every bit of the work come winter. Just to know that with that they might have a better chance of survival.

We come back to the question, and what do I plan to do . . . 
Kentucky has winter, albeit . . . mild, it's winter, and it has months of 15-20 degree weather. Still most of the problems in doing this, if I'm diligent about feeding an overactive hive, seem few and the opportunities of having a strong brood, perhaps stronger brood give me enough confidence into trying this. As I look at objectives for my growing little apiary, trying to raise strong colonies is at least my short-term goal. I may not do it when I have 80-100 hives - but while I'm in the single digits, it can't be too much of a strain.

As far as them eating up too much food supplies from this - Animals, including bees, eat in the winter for existence and for warmth - I don't see how keeping the hives warmer would deplete food stores. "Cleansing flights" is a very good point, however I feel that given the large outdoor openings in this building (it is after all a shack) cleansing flights shouldn't be a problem.

I also checked with a very respected beekeeper in my area, about 40 years my senior, he also plans to shack his hives this winter for the first time.

One Saturday's work. Again, Thanks so much for your comments, and advice.

Wish me luck, I'll let you know - come spring.

John Leslie Francis
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