In fact Hive #4 the snow wall was touching the landing. Hive #4 is all Russian bees and the colder wasn't an issue. This was my strongest hive by far and to prevent swarming I added a third deep in the fall so they would have room. By strongest I mean quite simply this hive had the most bees. So this wall of snow when I went out there was preventing bees from pushing their dead comrades out of the hive.
The inspection yielded a bit more to the story as the snow has melted and what I suspected was there was indeed there.....
Literally hundreds of dead bees at the base of hive #4 and the landing..... although the bees worked on that a bit. I mention this in case anyone thinks of keeping bees or is a new comer. This is a normal although scary progression. You walk out to the hive to see tons of dead bees, but think about it. In the summer the bee population is literally 60-80,000 bees by next spring you go to about 20-30 bees. The bees don't fly out and drop them they just drop them out and go back to the cluster.
The only sure way to see if your hive makes it is something called an inspection. While the sun is out today and yesterday and the temps were in the 60s..... it isn't a good idea to inspect the hives as much as I would like to make that a goal. I broke the inner cover off and the feeder to see how hive #1 was doing but I was VERY nervous about that one and I didn't dive into the two deep again it was huge temptation. I just didn't want to and here is why.
In Virginia we still have a few more weeks of cold weather possible and in fact snow is forecasted for the week. if I go into the hives, into the second and third deeps to look for eggs and maybe the queen, then I break the propolis seals between the boxes for my own comfort.
The bees will not be able to reseal it with propolis because the weather and sticky stuff is not warm enough for them. On top of that while in a cluster, if I break the seals and work the hives then I am cooling what brood is there. Think of it they are in a cluster at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. I open the boxes and disturb the cluster and introduce 60 degree temps in the depths of the hive..... not good to lose that warmth.
So I keep weigh the benefit and danger... I'll stick to what my brain says to do..... wait for warmer days.
So the pictures below are scary we are looking specifically at the base of the hive on the left (aka Hive #4) there are a few leaves in the grass but the darker color is that of dead bees at the middle and top of the picture. You might say MY HIVE died but in reality it is a good thing.... it is when you don't see them in winter and spring that you need to worry.
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