Have you heard that the winter of 2014-2015 is going to be long and “bad”.   Perhaps “snowy?”   I have.   I have specifically heard it called a “Black Squirrel Winter.”  Sounds serious!

At any rate, it means one thing for me in the coming weeks.   Sugar water.   Each time I speak with another beekeeper, they are saying “feed them.”   Since I don’t know enough to argue, I listen, and I start stirring the sugar in the pot and putting it in quart jars.

Three of these…every day.   One for each hive.   Five pounds of sugar makes four quart jars.  You can do the math.  It’s expensive!

The nights are already cool enough to be concerned about mice entering the hives so we’ve taken that wide opening at the bottom of the hive (pictured above) and inserted a spacer which limits the access.   Looks like this now.

And just in case we experience temperatures well below zero again, I’ve got my bubble wrap, duct tape, bags of mulch and tarp ready to pull out and set up to protect my bees.      Because…remember this…