Good morning:

this is just a quick update on my winter success/failure so far this year.  I set up a wintering house last Fall and have been posting my reports every couple of weeks since.

As of today I had lost six out of thiry-five hives.  Three of the hives had small clusters going into the winter, two displayed signs of dysentary and the six loss is a mystery.

The bees have not flown at all since the end of October.  The weather has been cold and snowy.  We haven't had any temperatures above 32 since sometime in early November.  Last Wednesday the morning low was -27 F.  We currently have about 36" of snow on the ground and absolutely now signs of Spring at all.  In fact, I am still waiting for the arrival of the seed catalogs, which is the first sign of spring around here.

This winter will be a true test of the bees wintering ability.  If they can survive this winter, they can survive anything Minnesota can throw at them.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Stay warm and think spring.

Mark in Minnesota.