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Bees & Beekeeping

Winter care

12 years ago

Has anyone tried placing a small watt light bulb in their hives to keep the bees warm? Maybe 40 watts or less shielded with something to keep the light down so the bees don't try to sit on the bulb.

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Comments (4)

ray4852
12 years ago
control the mites and your bees will find a way to survive the winter.
ray4852
12 years ago
control the mites and your bees will find a way to survive the winter.
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BuckeyeBeek
12 years ago
I would not attempt to supply supplemental heat as this will change the bees metabolism such that they will attempt to fly (into the cold outside) and either die or use us a ton of energy in the process (requiring more food). The bees will natural cluster to stay warm.

The biggest threat to bees during winter months is starvation. Make sure they have enough honey and pollen reserves in the fall to get them through to the spring flow. If you're not sure, feed sugar syrup. It's not ideal, but better than losing a hive to starvation. Replacing bees is expensive.

Best Wishes.
Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
You're allot milder then here, zone 3 and bees can survive the winter without light bulb, agree with buckeye.

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