Spring hasn't yet sprung

This past weekend I went out to see how the bees did over a very harsh winter. We had a number of days when the temps got way below freezing. I was worried that the ladies may have run out of food keeping warm or simply froze to death because of the cold. 

NEITHER HAPPENED! All five hives have so far survived. There was life at each hive. At 3 hives it looked there was still honey in the top super and plenty of bees. In 2 though the ball of bees looked like they were running out of stores and had reached the top. 

So, I went to bjs and bought a bunch of granulated sugar and went back to the hives the next morning. I put at least a pound of sugar under each outer cover just for insurance. Not much money in sugar and a huge benefit if the bees need that extra boost. 

I'm thinking that this will definitely help considering how it looks like it is going to take a while for spring to really get rolling up here. 

Next steps are getting the extra wooden ware to expand the apiary. Not sure how I'm gonna do that, maybe another trip to the airstrip in VT. 

More news on the expanding front. I am going to start 2 new hives at a place out in Guilford. I work at a vineyard and the owner has a large property with fruit trees and grapevines and he wants to keep bees but doesn't have the time. So he's going to pay me to get them going for him. I'm psyched because I get to do more beekeeping, but don't have to invest anything. It's an exciting time, 2014 will definitely be a good year for bees :)