Community Steward

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Useful writing on growing food, preserving it, sharing it, and keeping more life local.

10/5/2026

Overwinter Your Beehive: A Plain Guide to Getting Bees Through the Cold

A healthy hive can ride out a hard winter, and it usually fails because of things handled in fall, not the cold itself. This plain guide covers the varroa check, honey stores, moisture, and reducing hive space so your bees make it to spring.

Apiary Beekeeping Homesteading Self-Reliance Winter

10/2/2026

Winterize the Coop: A Plain Guide to Keeping Your Flock Healthy When the Cold Sets In

Chickens handle cold far better than humans do; the real winter enemy in a coop is moisture. This plain guide covers ventilation without drafts, frostbite protection, water that does not freeze, the deep litter method, and when a heat source is and is not worth it.

Chickens Homesteading Laying Hens Poultry Self-Reliance Winter