By: John Redkoles
I truly love the early days of Spring! The telltale signs of new life begin to emerge from the soil, fresh buds pop from the trees, warm air greets us and the gift of light goes well into the evening. All of this marks the beginning of a new season and a reminder that it is time for me to inspect the hives of my beloved honey bees. This first inspection of the season comes with much anticipation and anxiety. As I begin the inspection, I open the hive and methodically work my way through each frame. During this time, I am searching for what I call “The mark of life.”
So… what is the mark of life? I took this photograph (Figure 1) from my a hive inspection to give an “up close and personal” view of this mark. The larger honey bee, with the white dot on its back is the queen and that dot represents the true mark of life inside the hive. I take time to put this mark on the queen because it helps me find and identify her among the other forty-thousand bees within a typical hive. The queen is special and rightfully bears the mark of life! Without the queen, life inside the hive would cease to exist.
In reality, the long cold days of Winter challenge the very survival of each and every honey bee colony. This challenge can be magnified depending on where you live, especially in the more northern climates when wrapping and insulating the exterior of the hive is a normal go-to strategy. For me, in Southern New Jersey, it’s always a roll of the dice… From year to year we experience a mixed bag of weather, from extreme periods of bone-chilling cold with a fair amount of snow, to rather mild days with only a few short cold snaps in between.
Overall, I’ve never wrapped my hives and I’ve done well in over-wintering my colonies. Our more recent Winters have been great for my bees; however, if you’re a snow lover, you might think the opposite. The rather mild temperatures we’ve experienced over the last few seasons have given my hives some much needed relief. Having said that, a lot can still go wrong as honey bees Winter inside the hive.
A few years ago, I took this photograph (Figure 2) of my hives in the midst of a snowstorm. They were sealed by ice and snow and not a sign of life was to be found or imagined. Although hidden from the eye, much is happening on the inside, and the honey bees are very much alive and active. As a beekeeper, I’m often asked what the bees do in the Winter and how they survive the harsh and cold months that are sure to come.
I enjoy stepping into this teaching moment. I quickly reply that honey bees depend on each other and that many of life’s lessons could be learned from the way they work together for the common good. As I’m met with puzzled looks, I describe how the honey bees huddle tightly together centered around the queen while feeding on their honey and pollen sources for energy. It is fascinating to think that they use this energy to generate heat by vibrating their bodies, and with thousands of bees vibrating, the cluster can heat up to a balmy 90 degrees and beyond. To my mind’s eye, this image never ceases to amaze me.
To help increase my odds of opening a healthy and active hive at the beginning of the season that bears the mark of life, I’ve employed a few overwintering techniques that have served me well. For instance, I always top my hives with a Winter quilt box that I’ve made with 2×3 lumber and a screen bottom filled with pine chips (Figures 3 and 4). Quilt boxes are vented in many ways; however, I’ve used a “chimney” method for years with great success. The short piece of PVC piping set over the center hole of the inverted inner cover allows the excess heat to vent directly out of the hive.
Then, any condensation that builds on the inside of the top cover drips down onto the wood chips. This leaves the honey bees perfectly dry and free from getting wet and freezing. Most importantly, I install a small screw on the top corners of the quilt box so that the top cover is slightly raised. This is what actually allows the rising heat to escape from the hive. I also place the notch of the inverted inner cover toward the front of the hive. This also helps vent the hive and doubles as a pathway to give the bees an easy exit and entrance back to the hive when Winter weather permits.
Although I’m very conscious about leaving 50 to 60 pounds of honey on the hive for their Winter food, I still give them a small life line of emergency food. I add two winter patties to each hive directly on top of the frames before returning the inner cover (Figure 5). This has really come in handy and I’m confident that this little extra boost has helped sustain my bees as the cupboards start getting bare. In the end, there are never any guarantees in beekeeping, and we learn by trial and error, but proper preparation and over-wintering techniques can pay big dividends when the dark and cold days of Winter have left us.
There is no bigger prize than witnessing your honey bees emerging from the hive full of life as they forage the landscape for pollen and nectar. I captured this image as one of my honey bees visited the bounty of fresh catnip in my yard (Figure 6).
John Redkoles
In addition to being an accomplished wildlife photographer, John is a United Methodist pastor, a retired New Jersey State Trooper and a beekeeper. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, an artist, and has two grown daughters. Visit John on Instagram @john.redkoles to see more of his unique work. The two images that are not captioned with a figure number are more examples of his work.
