Winter on the Farm

My beehives winter of 25/26

Here are my three beehives. This picture was taken early January 2026. On a snowy day like the one in which this picture was taken I had several clues to let me know if my hives were currently alive. I have found over the course of time, that you can tell for sure if a hive is alive in winter, but you can't tell for absolutely certain if it is dead. My educated guess, however tells me that the one in the middle, the blue long hive is most likely dead. Let's go through the clues so you can see how I came to this conclusion, and also how I determined that the other two are most likely alive.

Dead bees in the snow

Believe it or not, the best clue that your hive is alive is finding dead bees in the snow around the hive. They need to be intact, not torn apart, and look like they came out of an entrance and dropped into the snow. If you get a nice warm day after a prolonged cold spell, you will often find a lot of dead bees and lots of yellow droppings in the snow. This is the long tan hive. The bees are placed in such a way that I can tell they came out of the hive. Since the snow is relatively fresh, I know they came out recently. I did witness a live bee fall out of this hive into the snow, so that is a very positive sign. Any live bees mean a live hive in the winter.

indentation in snow on roof

It is a little hard to see in this picture. It was easier the next day to see a melted spot in the snow on the hive's roof. But I didn't have a camera and the next time I happened by the snow was completely melted. This hive has a flat roof, so the heat from the bee cluster melts the snow directly above it. I have photos from previous years where this is really noticeable. That is a positive indication that the bees are definitely alive in this hive.

Blue hive, debris in snow

Here is a picture of the front of the blue long hive. Notice there is a lot of debris, but no dead bees. I am pretty sure some critter has taken up residence in the hive for the winter and is just doing some housekeeping. Of course there is a tiny chance there are live bees inside, I have been surprised before, but the evidence I see here leads me to believe this hive is not alive at this point.

The third hive, the vertical hive that was populated by a swarm seems to also be alive. Even though its bottom entrance is often blocked by snow, it has upper entrances and ventilation. I have found dead bees in the snow around that hive as well. When the snow melts from the lower entrance, there is evidence of housekeeping going on, meaning there is dead bees and other debris that appears to have been pushed out of the hive.

So, for now, as of January 2026, it appears two of the three hives are alive.

My new milking stand!!

We have had two milking stands for many years. The first one is wooden and has been re-worked by my son to make it more sturdy. Every goat in the barn will go on that stand. The other stand was metal. The platform had holes you could see through. Of course it was very sturdy, but the goats were not sure about it. We worked very hard to get half the goats to jump on it, but increasingly more and more were balking at it. So, for Christmas we unanimously requested my son make us a new wooden milking stand to replace the metal one. It is SOOO nice! So far we have gotten everyone to jump on it after they tested it of course for sturdiness with their hoof! This stand was designed by an engineer and built by a fine woodworker who knows what kind of force a 175 pound goat puts on the stand when jumping on it forcefully! He does not have plans for you to duplicate it. He says it is too complicated because he did things only a fine woodworker would do, like make dovetails in the front joints! But we are very grateful to have a sturdy, beautiful stand that will likely last for many years. Thank you, Tim!