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First snow in early December - the bees have been rounded up in late November from the dozen or so yards where they spent the summer and made the year's honey crop. The roundup gets done each year as late in the fall as possible before the rain and snow starts. The object is to leave them out as long as possible, but you don't want to be getting stuck in weather like this! They are stacked on concrete right outside the building where they are going to spend the worst part of the winter. |
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Each pallet holds four beehives and each hive consists of two boxes - a deep (on top) and a shallow below. At this time of the year, each hive weights about 100 Lbs and the bees have contracted in numbers to, perhaps, a third of the peak summer population of around 30,000 bees. Most of the weight is food (honey) which they will consume over the winter months. Some beekeepers still handle and move their hives by hand - each hive individually. After doing this the first year, we discovered why God created fork lifts! |