Bees still alive

A forty degree day today sent me down to the hive to knock on the side for a listen. But when I leaned down to hear if there was life in the box, I was eye to eye with a girl flying around outside who came near me to inquire why I was about to knock. It was a lovely sight, a sign of spring upcoming and hopefully a strong colony. Two weeks ago, another warm day, I opened the top and put a half cup of sugar on the top of the inner cover. A mid-winter snack in case they were running low. If the weather is warm enough to do that again this weekend, I will give more sugar to the girls. I have been told that it is not the cold that kills the bees, but the lack of enough food storage. It has been a warm winter, and while their hive was heavy in December, there is no tellng how long their stores will last them.