What a nice sight to see!

You may wonder why I like to see dead bees in the snow. Well, it means the hive is actually alive. These bees came out for a cleansing flight and didn't make it back in. BUT, on February 3, 2021, we had an especially nice, sunny, day with temps almost to 40 degrees with no wind. I didn't look at the hive that afternoon, but the next morning I noticed dead bees in the snow far from my hive. Curious, I went closer and as I approached I started to see bee droppings in the snow. By the time I got up to the hive, there were bee droppings everywhere in a huge circle around the hive. That was a very good sign. That meant that most of the hive made it out for a cleansing flight. There were dead bees in the snow, but not very many, which meant that most made it safely back into the hive. Just a day later the weather turned frigid, which confined the bees to the hive for an extended period, which made the potty break day especially helpful for their winter survival. With the cold, we got almost a foot of snow. Even with the cold, there is still a depression in the front of the hive where the snow is melted, showing that my bees are clustering and making heat. It is an interesting phenomenon I haven't experienced before because this hive has a flat roof and is horizontal. It is a great indicator of where and how large the cluster is. They are still pretty close to the front, so they have a long way to go before they use up the stores in the hive.