Knock, Knock. Who's There??

I've been worried about my bees this winter only because there's been so much snow and it's been so cold. We've had several major snowstorm dumps in our neck of the woods and I have had the kids go out many times to make sure the entrance was swept off so air could get in. On the other hand, that's exactly the kind of winter I was hoping we'd have because they would be so much less active and they wouldn't eat through their winter stores as quickly as they did last year. I felt like it's been much too cold to check on them too, because you're not supposed to open a hive until it's over 50 degrees F (I thought). What's a nervous Nelly bee lover to do?

Well, attending your local beekeeper -- or "beek" for short -- association meetings helps you learn all kinds of helpful and important information. Today I learned it's okay to lift the lid a little to put some bee candy/fondant/sugar board/straight white sugar on the top of the frames or on the inner cover if you're worried about your bees having food and if it's in the 40's. I also learned that if you knock on the side of the hive, if the girls are alive in there, you'll hear an answering buzz.

Got home. Got out of my car. Walked back to my hive and knocked. Pressed my ear to the side of my hive.

Bzzzzzzz.

Ahhh. They're still alive. Happy beek. Now, where are those bee candy recipes...