Prepping the Hives for the Winter

I hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful fall weather here in the Central Valley of California over the past few weeks. This has been the time to make any last minute adjustments to our bee hives in preparation for the changing winter forecasts right around the corner.

Photo- The Purple Rain hive getting ready for the cold winter ahead by using grass to reduce the entrance to help the bees regulate the hive temperature easier.

Among the activities in prepping the hives for winter include insuring the hives have enough honey inside for the winter, checking and treating for mites as necessary, harvesting and removing extra honey super boxes, and checking for any other issues that might arise.

To make it through the winter, a bee hive needs to have a very low mite count (1% or less), a strong fairly young queen (under 2 years old) and a lot of bees in the hive to keep the hive warm when temperatures drop close to freezing. They also need good stores of honey in the hive (at least 20-30 lbs), as this is what they eat during the winter. Not a bad diet, huh?

Photo- It’s important that our bee hives have sufficient stores of honey and pollen throughout the year, especially when temperature drop. Here is a picture of a frame with pollen that will be kept inside the hive for the bees during winter.

Lastly, and easily overlooked, it is important that the hives have good airflow in the hives to prevent condensation buildup when temperatures drop. In most cases, it is not the low temperature that can kill a hive but the drops of cold water from the condensation that builds up inside a hive with poor circulation.

Photos- We either drill holes in the hive boxes or use popsicle sticks to prop up the hive cover to allow for air flow in our hives.

Stay tuned for next week’s post where we will share about our last honey harvest of the year, that is taking place this weekend!

Blessings,

Jeff