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 Photo Gallery

Deciduous Trees Contribute to Minnesota Winter Landscape Interest!"

January 21, 2004

Dear friends of Johnston Family Honey!


Winter is the time to prune these trees. See below for more photos.
Activity in the beeyard has slowed for the winter. Many people ask what happens to the bees in the winter here in Minnesota. Bees are remarkably resilient insects and until the European mite infestation came along in the 1980's, they survived naturally as wild honey bees. Now, with proper hive management the bees are generally able to survive in hives during all but the coldest, longest winters. Beekeepers with 100's or 1000's of hives don't take a chance on the weather. They truck the bees to Florida, Texas or California and put them to work on a variety of agricultural crops during the winter. Johnston Honey is not that sophisticated and the bees stay put in their hives, out in the fields where they were born last summer! The bees gather in a ball over the honey-filled frames inside the hive and continuously move away from the center, letting the cold, hungry bees from the outer portion in to eat. They tend to be slowed by the cold but if aggravated can muster the energy to fly in your face and sting.

It's hard to believe that beauty still exists in the Minnesota winter garden. Below are some pictures to demonstate that the bare deciduous trees are a form of garden beauty.

Winter is the time to prune these trees. Don has tried to force many of the trees into a vase shape to conserve space on the property. It also prevents deer damage as the branches are higher up the trunk. It is essential to wrap the trunks (<1inch to 10 inch diameter) of all younger trees (5-15 years) with 4 foot high chicken wire to prevent the bucks from rubbing their new, furry antlers on the trunks (did you know that bucks lose their antlers every year?). At some point it is going to be necessary to hire a professional arborist to thin out the Autumn Blaze Maples. They are looking top heavy!

Photo Gallery
(48 photos)
(click on photo for larger view and caption)
















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