allen dick wrote:
>> Snow is great, wrapping is not.

> LOL.  Nice troll!
>
> Those of us who have lived in the North all our lives and have been
> practical beekeepers all our lives are getting another rather hypothetical
> lecture from way down South.

> BTW -- FWI --  I appreciated Keith's post about his thoughts on wintering.
> He made some good points about wrapping and top insulation and
> survival.  He
> is experimenting and is prepared to lose some of the weak hives.

We hobby beekeepers tend to reinvent the wheel and often it is square,
oblong or anything but round. Occasionally we do get it right and
beekeeping benefits, but that is the exception, not the rule.

One danger is we tell others of our success without a complete knowledge
of what is really taking place. Others might take it as gospel and
proceed down that path to eventual losses and an exit from keeping bees.
I have seen this repeated too often in my beekeeping experience, which
is only 14 years, but in beekeeping that makes me a grizzled vet.

I appreciate Keith's work. He and I disagree mainly about the use of
controls for Varroa, but agree about most everything else. He is on the
side of the angels. I appreciate Allen's correct assessment of the very
misleading post on wrapping. There were so many errors in in I gave up,
but knew there would be a response and Allen's was succinct.

The major factors in overwintering have always been a good queen, enough
good (emphasis on good) stores, and health of the bees. Without those
three, it matters little if you wrap or don't wrap. Most winter failures
are directly tied to them, but we often tie it to something else. Not
many of us hobby beekeepers are experts in doing the proper detective
work in identifying the reason for winter kill, and I count myself in
that group. I was able to ID about 3/4 of the reasons for hive failure
from frames brought by the State Inspector, while many attending had no
idea about any of the causes. (I did work with him for a day in the
blueberry fields, which was enlightening.)

If you have the three mentioned above, then success will revolve around
when the queen starts laying, since that determines when the bees start
protecting the brood. If they cannot move to nearby stores, they will
starve even if those store are only an inch away. That is where wrapping
or not wrapping comes into play: to allow the bees to move to stores.

If, like Keith, you are experimenting, you will eventually end up with a
late laying queen. You can get there quick by starting with Carneoleans,
as I did.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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