Winter Bee Hive Maintanance

Winter Bee Hive Maintenance Tips

Baxter St. Gardener 12/13/2014

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Well I was talking with Ms. Wiggins of Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts, about seeing deadbees at the entrance to the hive.  She told me this die off is normal for the winter time.

She also told me to remove the entrance reducer and sweep out the dead bees that are inside hive on the screen of the hive bottom.  She said that when she first started keeping bees she found that the entrances to her hives were totally blocked by the bodies of dead bees that had died off during the winter.

              

I purchased a flat, .69¢ yard stick.

I marked one end of the yard stick and cut it off to making a point. 

Cut out the poi

Mark angle to cut out your point

I removed the entrance reducer

I slid the yard stick in along one side of the hive bottom, on top of the screen, to the back of the hive bottom……

...slowly sweeping the dead bees out of the bottom of the hive.  I repeated this step on the other side of the hive bottom.

 Using this .69¢ yard stick trick worked well for this winter maintenance job.

The ¼ inch hardware cloth you see on the front of the hive body is a device Mr. Mike

Credit of Mark Twain Bee Keepers Club, fabricated for me.   The openings of the hardware cloth are big enough for my bees to come and go, but small enough so wasps can’t get through.  It also serves as a mouse guard.