I agree with  Dave that beehives can suffocate to death under snow.  My area in Finland is with lots of snow. As I winter my hives with 1 box, my outside hives are totally covered with snow every winter. I only have 2 yards out of 20 in which hives are not sometimes covered. The igloo - effect is a norm.

But I have to say suffocation is very rare. I have been hit for sure only once in 20 years in one yard, which I have had for 10 years. That year we had several spells of warm weather. Many 2 - 15 mm thick sheets of ice formed inside the snow. I lost all hives that stood alone in that yard. The snow was about 30cm  above the lids when I come to shovel the snow away to let the bees go for the first flight. I have to do this for all the hives every year. That is one reason why I have more and more hives inside for winter.

Only two hives survived. These were the only ones that were close each others. They had formed a common igloo. From these two one was normal, and the other one had lost 80 % of its bees.

The died colonies had all the bees as a thick layer in the bottom. The frames were perfectly clean.

My equipment is polystyrene with net in bottom boards. A friend nearby has wooden equipment, without net and he had bigger losses taht year.

This was 5 years ago, and I still use the same yard. But I have decided to go and break the ice in the surface of snow if we get it as bad again. Haven't had this far. We get ice on snow enough to walk on  every spring for few weeks.

Ari Seppälä

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::