Snow and Friends

The northern Virginia area received between a foot and two feet of snow last Saturday the 19th. It was a record snowfall for Washington DC in December. Since my bees are 77 miles from my house I haven't had a chance to check on them yet. It took us 3 days just to dig out! Hopefully they are warm and dry and the snow hasn't blocked the entrance. We rarely have that much snow on the ground and since my hives are on cinder blocks I sure didn't expect to be dealing with this problem this year. It has been sunny since the snow ended and my hive bodies are stained dark brown so hopefully the sun has melted the snow from the front of the hives.

I mentioned earlier that my wife Michele gave me the book Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad for my birthday. I have finally had a chance to start reading it. The first couple of chapters are his philosophical approach and how he became a beekeeper, which are intertwined. I have been a gardener since I was a kid and prefer to garden as naturally as possible. I don't use any non-organic pesticides or herbicides and use very little non-organic fertilizer. I am hoping this book will provide additional methods and ideas so I can perform my beekeeping in as natural a manner as possible while still maintaining healthy colonies. There are a couple of ideas that I might try like drilling a hole in the hive body to provide another exit and means of ventilation, especially if snow gets deep enough to cover the entrance. That's one that last year I would have read and not thought twice about. This year with 20 inches of snow on the ground it might stick in my mind!

We put on our Christmas cards this year that I had taken up beekeeping. We got back an email from Mike, my best friend from high school, that he is keeping 3 colonies! It is so funny how many people are either beekeepers or know someone who is. I can't wait to talk with him more and see his hives.

Unfortunately the snow prevented our trip to TN to see my family but we had a great Christmas anyway. I hope my readers had a wonderful holiday season.