Still Alive

You wouldn't believe it from the frigid temperatures we had over the weekend but last week we had some very seasonable weather.  We even had two days that were above 50 degrees.  Which meant that I wanted to pop open the top of the hive to see if there was any movement and life inside. 

I opened the hive to find some dead bees in the top but also to find the hive alive and doing well.  In fact the bees hadn't even made it up to the top box yet.  The top box was still filled with capped honey.  Despite the fact that there was still plenty of food for the bees I poured a couple cups of granulated sugar on the inner cover as an emergency food source just in case I can't get in again before spring to assess food stores.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that they make it about two months more when they get to start foraging and creating new bees.

 Alive bees climbing up to see what is going on.  If you look closely you might be able to tell that on that frame is still capped honey.

 I probably should have brushed the dead bees away before pouring on the sugar.  But I wanted to get in fast, check that there was still signs of life and close it back up quickly since it was still chilly.