Novice Beekeeper

Today is about 14 degrees Celsius,  too cold to open a hive by Australian standards.  But I'm thinking hard about protecting my 2 hives from the cold.  Two weeks ago I shit down the entrances to slow cold drafts from entering the gr8 e.  I've read that the bees work really hard to maintain upwards of 34 degrees Celsius I  the you've over  winter.  So any attempt to keep them warm,  preserves the bees and honey stores. So here I am wanting to insert  two short pieces of foam into the entrance.  I'll only bee a minute I tell myself,  no need for a veil, no need for smoke ... I did my second hive first, just a few weeks here,  they were a bit cranky when they landed and at their first inspection.  But things have improved,  they seem to be very busy,  multiplying in numbers and probably stored.  (Judging by the traffic alone,  that is.)  Well,  today with me wedging pieces off alien material ...

A week, maybe two, after taking ownership of my first real hive it was due for an inspection. Even after smoking the hive with my veil and gloves on, and the cuffs off my jeans taped up, I was nervous. Even though I'd been stung during my last outing and having realised a bee sting wasn't as painful as a green ant bite, I was nervous. Off with the lid, a little more smoke, the bees were ok, I wasn't. I freed the frame furthest away and had a look. There was probably honey and pollen to be seen, but I was searching for the queen. I repeated this two or three times more, at frame four there should have been eggs, larvae and brood, pollen and capped honey, but I never saw because i was nervously hunting for the queen. This continued right across the hive, me being nervous and the queens being invisible. After poking around, probably for too long, I close the hive up and a few days later, told Warren that I hadn't seen the queen. I was assured this was normal; they'...

A week, maybe two, after taking ownership of my first real hive it was due for an inspection. Even after smoking the hive with my veil and gloves on, and the cuffs off my jeans taped up, I was nervous. Even though I'd been stung during my last outing and having realised a bee sting wasn't as painful as a green ant bite, I was nervous. Off with the lid, a little more smoke, the bees were ok, I wasn't. I freed the frame furthest away and had a look. There was probably honey and pollen to be seen, but I was searching for the queen. I repeated this two or three times more, at frame four there should have been eggs, larvae and brood, pollen and capped honey, but I never saw because i was nervously hunting for the queen. This continued right across the hive, me being nervous and the queens being invisible. After poking around, probably for too long, I close the hive up and a few days later, told Warren that I hadn't seen the queen. I was assured this was normal; they'...

I've had my 8 frame nuc at my parents' place for a week now and the cool weather has hot with vengeance: the coldest May maximum temp for decades.  The snow fields received a drop of 50cm of snow,  five weeks before the start of the season.  I checked my baby hive through the week and it was very busy with bees added lots of sealed honey.  In fact it was too busy to lift a frame without upsetting them.  They're a lively enough bunch anyhow.  But it was concerning to see them not working this afternoon,  knowing they were in "heat generation mode" and using up honey stores already,  before winter is officially underway.  I also noticed that the sun goes of the hive in the early afternoon.  So,  I now want to move them out of the shade about 2 minutes and add a quilted cover.  This is just a standard lid,  hessian tracked across it's bottom and filled with wood shavings.  This adds insulation and absorbs moisture whi...