Luke and I sealed up the bee box entrances and began to move them before more snow was forecast. At first walking them through the side pasture was a bit of a bear. So Luke added two handles to each side of the boxes so that it could be moved by two people with a little more ease. These boxes are currently at least 55 lbs. each so it was a little difficult to maneuver across the property.  Moving the bees to a location with better cover and wind break was important though as we do not want to have to replace the hives next spring. In fact we hope they stay healthy enough to get two splits out of them to make our hives each two strong.

Here the boxes are in their new safe haven. They are now in a three sided horse stall with the entrances to the hives pointed toward one of the walls, this will allow for the least amount of wind to flow into the hives. Bees are very adaptable creatures so I have quite a bit of faith in the little critters making it through winter. Luke also added in some dehumidifiers as moisture can be a death sentence for them. Once they were moved and had some time to rest we opened the entrances and allowed them their access to the world again. When we glanced into the vents under the lid they looked healthy and were acting normal. So all in all I have a very good feeling about them.

Also check out the boxes that my splits will be going into! Luke found a near by bee keeper that was getting rid of some of their commercial use boxes. (I am one spoiled lady!) Once we split the hives I will place these puppies on the homestead. I look forward to painting them some fun and whimsical colors to blend into the landscape since right now they are a little boring and have the incorrect initial. (Ha!)