Winter is Coming, and There are Things to Do

As beekeepers, fall is one of our busiest seasons. The crisp air and falling leaves signal it’s time to get our hives ready for the long, cold months ahead. Winter can be tough on honey bees, and our job is to give them the best chance to survive until spring. Here’s how we prepare my hives, step by step, drawing from years of tending to my buzzing friends.

In late August or early September, we start by inspecting each hive to make sure the colony is strong. We inspect to ensure we have a good, healthy amount of bees to keep everyone warm during the cold winter months. Pests are another concern. Varroa mites are the bane of every beekeeper’s existence. We treat the hive with oxalic acid vapor to help keep varroa in check and to help prevent to disease they contribute to.

Bees don’t forage in winter, so they need enough honey and pollen to last until spring. A colony needs about 60 to 80 pounds of honey, which is roughly 8 to 10 full frames in a deep box. Since our honey supers are no longer on, we start the feeding process. This can mean sugar water, so some, but we have found our bees like Pro-Sweet, which gives them an extra boost.

As we all know, winter in our area can be brutal, with freezing temperatures and biting winds, so we focus on ventilation and reducing the amount of wind that can enter the hive. Moisture is a silent killer—wet bees freeze faster than dry ones. We add a quilt box filled with wood shavings to absorb condensation, and I make sure the inner cover has a ventilation hole. We also insert our solid bottom board instead of leaving it screened and add our entrance reducer. I mean who wants to leave the front door wide open in the middle of winter.

So what happens if we have a weak hive? Well, they get combined into one; the more bees, the easier it is for them to keep warm. We also make sure to check that the cluster is low in the hive with honey frames right above it, since bees move upward as they eat through winter. Queen excluders come off, which is easy to remember since they come off with the supers. However, it is always good to take a second look—the last thing we want is the queen stuck below an empty super while the cluster moves up. It’s a small thing, but it makes a big difference.

Lastly, as the days get shorter and we see less and less of the sun, we add on pollen paddies and start praying for a mild winter, and while there are times as we do everything right, sometimes a hive just doesn’t make it. Oh, but when they do, it’s a great joy to see the girls flying on the first warm spring days.