7pm: ICE CREAM SOCIAL

7:30pm Topic: Wintering your bees:  Winter Moisture is NOT your enemy!

Speaker: Chris Hagwood

Chris Hagwood is a NCSBA Master Beekeeper in his 11th year of beekeeping.  Like everyone that started beekeeping in that era, he was taught winter moisture is the killer of honey bees, not the cold.  Beekeepers were discouraged from using insulation, and wrapping the hives was considered taboo.  But, several years ago, in reading reports from a far north beekeeper in Canada, he questioned the logic that moisture is the enemy of bees in winter.  So, he started closing up his hives in winter, allowing no upper ventilation and adding insulation.  His bees succeeded in winter.   He now wants to spread the word that ventilation is not needed to overwinter bees, and moisture is not the threat it's been made out to be.  He will explain how he prepares his bees for winter and how he sets up the hives for the cold.