I just came in to warm up after having my bare ear frozen against the frigid side of a hive box while listening for the honeybee's "humming" inside. I place my ear all over the outside of the box seeing if I can locate where the cluster is. I do this after dark of course, so the neighbors can't see me. Tonight, it is 6 degrees F. with a wind chill just below 0 degrees. I was able to walk back towards the house through a foot of snow with a big grin, all three hives are still alive.
I am starting to think about ordering more boxes, frames and the like. Ordering now and building more boxes in February or March sounds like a good plan.....but, what if the bees don't make it? A fellow beekeeper and friend told me to be optimistic, so I'm going to think positive and make plans for more bees. I've been making a few sugar bricks every week, so come February, March I'll be able to get them to the bees if they need it. I love the smell of the lemongrass and spearmint essential oils in them, hope the bees do too.
