Winter finalization
The tan hive is double walled and has an insulated cover, so it did not need further winterization. I put two towels in the top of the blue hive and wrapped its sides and back with Reflectix insulation and tar paper. The front I left as is because it has the porch roof, and since it has a windbreak I think the lack of insulation in the front makes little difference. When I opened the top cover, I only saw bees around the middle inner cover. It was cold, so I do not know where
Mouse Guards on!
Step two of winter prep is to place mouse guards on the entrances of the hives. I chose to wait until it was getting cold at night (low 40s, high 30s) before doing this. I decided to leave the entrances open on all three hives this year and just staple 1/2" hardware cloth over the entire entrance. I have noticed on both long hives that the bees have built up significant propolis in the entrance, so I feel that will restrict the entrance enough for them over the winter. Beside
