Keith said:
 At this present time All 18 of my colonies are alive, a first that I know
of in my location, but winter is not quite over yet and circumstances could
change.

For a couple minutes while searching for Keith's bee pictures I thought I
would have to join three new beekeeping lists to see the pictures!

When I see pictures and wintering results like Keith's I attribute success
to the beekeeper rather than the bees. Keith no doubt followed the basic
rules of wintering to the letter.

In Alaska & Canada the beekeeper knows a cold winter is coming and if proper
preparation is not done winter failure will result.

 In the Midwest if we see a problem  which will result in huge hive loss by
spring we simply load up the hives and head for a warmer climate so  bee
work  such as feeding, disease  control and  early requeening can continue.

I helped with an outfit which had a high infestation of varroa and had not
produced enough young bees to winter or even store feed given to  winter on.
A call was placed to another commercial  beekeeper and the three of us
loaded up and trucked the whole outfit south. A building had to be rented
just to store and rework deadouts. The beekeeper spent  the winter in the
south raising queens and building the outfit back up. On his return we
placed those hives in Apples and I could not believe those were the same
hives (reworked)  we trucked south.
 The beekeeper grafted six days a week and raised, mated and installed over
a thousand queens. He said he (and his helper) were totally exhausted  by
the end of each day and it seemed as though when they closed their eyes at
night  it had only been a couple minutes and the alarm was going off to
start again.

Twice in my years of beekeeping I have been in the similar  shape. Helpless
feeling and you feel like quiting. Both times I had to look out of state to
get *jump started* due to the amount of help needed. Both times commercial
beekeepers helped me work through the issue. Very few on the list keep bees
for a living but if you do and you find yourself in a similar to above
situation and a large beekeeper offers help. Forget pride and let the
beekeeper help. Our numbers are dwindling and we are on the endangered
species list. Beekeeping friends which offer help when your back is against
the wall are friendships worth hanging on to.

Bob

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