IT was in the 20's and no bees were flying. The Blue hive appears to be strong. I easily heard them buzzing without having to put my ear to the hive. I swept out a cupful of dead bees from the bottom.
Artemis did not give an audible hum at first and I suspected the worst. I did take the top off the and removed some of the wool out of the insulating deep to peer past the feeding bucket and down through the inner cover hole. To my pleasure I saw some bees still alive in there. Afterwards there was a more audible buzz.
I took the top off the the double nuc. I have no insulation in there which I should consider rectifying. peering through the inner cover holes, one seemed dead while there was still life in the other. That matches my memory that one seemed stronger than the other last year.
All in all, could be worse. The real test will be in the next two months. It was mild all through December, the cold has come now but no insulating snow to speak of. I hope for an early Spring so I can get some feed on them ASAP.
