Rick,
You site Wooden Boxes, Plastic frames, and NO insulation as if THEY were
responsible for the death of your bees in the cold weather.

Read Dr. Edward Southwick's work on the effect of cold on bees.  He "proved"
that
a strong colony of healthy bees with ample stores could easily survive when
kept at temperatures zero, 20 below, 40 below and even 80 below for at least a
month, and usually several months.
The point of the research is to prove that COLD does not kill HEALTHY bees
that
have correct winter stores.

If a beekeeper tried to get weak colonies through a cold winter, or more
particularly, if the winter food was NOT choice slow crystallizing honey, but was
goldenrod or aster honey, the bees did not survive.

Forgetting the obvious things like AFB or mites, did you treat your bees with
Fumidil-B in October to prevent NOSEMA disease?  Bee scientists estimate that
60% of ALL colonies of bees in the U. S. have NOSEMA, which normally does not
kill a colony, but makes it so weak that it might not survive a prolonged
cold snap.

I am NOT trying to be nasty, but rather informative.  Bees have been kept in
upper
New York, and all over Canada for decades in non insulated wooden hives with
only
minor winter losses.  The  "key" seems to be that a colony must be STRONG,
disease
FREE, and have HIGH GRADE winter stores.

I have watched your writings for a long time, and you obviously are most
conscientious; so I thought I might help you.

For what it is worth, the Washington, DC weather bureau has said that our
Maryland
weather this winter was the 2nd longest coldest winter since 1871; and I did
not
lose a single colony; but I know of many, many dead ones that were just not
properly prepared by their owners to go into a long, cold winter.

I hope I have helped.

George Imirie, Retired Scientist
Starting my 72nd year of beekeeping in Maryland
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper

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