That's encouraging!...I checked today..it seems 2 out of my 4 hives
have no sign of live, ....looks like two hives I made from swarms for
winter kill are already used up? I think Alberta will see a high loss, the
reason for this I think it was this long long deep freeze for over a month,
well below freezing and bees couldn't get to their stores. Last year I had
o loss.

Konrad

Well that's not very encouraging news is it. Hopefully the other two do well. If I lose one hive I'm out of bees as I only have one. Sure do not want that to happen. Good luck with your remaining ones.

I'm getting my first bees in April---two hives. I'm concerned about Maine's cold winters and am wondering about putting my hives indoors, somehow, for overwintering. My brother, also new to bees, is wondering about putting his in the loft of his barn near a window.

I was pondering with this same idea but after researching this I cam
to the conclusion that keeping them outside is the way to go.
We get allot colder for a much longer period and keeping them outside
is usually not a problem, there are more things to consider when heaving
them inside.

Have fun!

Thanks! I sure have enjoyed following your bee experiences, konrad.
Someone else just recommended that we not try to house the bees inside, plus the family member with whom I live has threatened to evict me if I try it.
I'm very excited about this new hobby, but am surprised at all the potential problems I'm considering. I live near a blueberry field and I'm concerned about their use of chemical sprays. I won't be able to keep my bees home, would I, if I should be able to get advance warning of the spray days?

Yes, you can lock them in, just put screening on the entrance,...then
I would put good shading over them to make it dark...this would calm
them down, you could do this a couple of day's if needed, most likely
a day or so is what's done I herd...but do a little more research, this is
a good place to ask.

Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: Beesource

Well, We're not way up in Maine, but here in western Massachusetts, we recently had a few nights of 15 to 20 degrees below zero. It was probably warmer in the hive than in the house, since we had a heating pipe freeze and I woke up to an indoor thermometer barely pushing 40 deg.
Bees, like birds, are adapted to the cold weather

the Beesource link looks very useful, I gave it a mark. Thanks for sharing :)