As the snow comes down out the window it may come as no surprise to some that it is time to share the news of my first deadout this winter. While loosing a hive is always sad I did have a few good things from this experience. First of all It increased my confidence in my assessment of hives. The dead out was labeled from last fall “very weak” – apparently I was correct. Secondly this hives loss will be next summers gain as it provides me with 20 frames of drawn deep comb. Third the hive died with a full super of honey which, after assessing the reason the hive died I was able to repurpose for another hive.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to do some posts on winter management including How to asses hives in winter (do an NOT do), Winter Feeding Options, and planning for spring.