How to Winterize a Beehive
Winterizing a beehive is an important skill for beekeepers in cold climates. While honey bees do much of the work themselves, there are several things we can do to help. In this guide, I’ll show you the most important things to check as the productive season comes to a halt and you prepare your beehives for winter.
Winter is a quiet time in the bee yard, but the colony is still busy surviving the cold. These winter beekeeping tips will help you understand what is happening inside the hive.
What Honey Bees Need to Survive Winter
What exactly does it mean to make sure your hives are ready for Winter? Must you buy or knit thousands of little bee-sized jackets? No – not at all.
Honey bees are well equipped to survive cold weather when they have a strong, healthy population and plenty of stored food.
The beekeeper’s job is not to keep the colony warm but to make sure the bees have the resources and hive conditions they need to do the job themselves.
When Should You Prepare Your Hives for Winter?
Timing to begin Winter preparation varies (a lot) depending on where you live. In my area of South Carolina, I begin evaluating colonies for winter in late summer and continue making adjustments through fall.
Those of you in northern regions of the country must start much sooner. Your goal is to have the important preparations completed before consistently cold weather arrives.
This gives the colony time to organize its food stores and settle into the hive before winter. Even more important, it gives the beekeeper time to address any population or queen issues.
How to Get Your Beehive Ready for Cold Weather
Each colony is different—even those in the same bee yard.
Use these winterizing steps as a guide, but be prepared to adjust your plan based on the needs of each hive.
Start by checking the basics: food stores, colony population, bee health, ventilation, hive protection and entrance setup.
Make Sure the Colony Has Enough Food
One of the most important parts of preparing a beehive for winter is making sure the colony has enough stored food.
Bees need plenty of honey to fuel the winter cluster and generate heat during cold weather.
The amount of honey needed varies greatly depending on your climate and the length of winter. Here in South Carolina, my colonies need less stored honey than those living in regions with long, severe winters.
(I always aim for one shallow (or medium) full of honey for the bees plus whatever they have in the deep box. – Then of course I monitor throughout the Winter.)
Guesstimating Honey Stores
It is common to see honey storage recommendations given in pounds. An average of 50-80# of stored honey seems to be the average. Below are some tips to help you “guesstimate” honey stores in your hive.
- medium Langstroth frame honey on both side – averages 4-5# of honey
- a shallow frame weighs slightly less
- a full deep frame of honey weighs in at about 8#
Don’t assume – check the food stores of your hives in later summer. Successful Fall feeding for bees saves colonies that are on the edge if you start it in time.
Check Colony Population
A good population of healthy bees is essential for winter survival. The colony needs enough workers to form a tight bee cluster and generate heat during cold weather.
Evaluate weak colonies well before winter arrives. In some cases, combining weak (but healthy) colonies is the best choice.
I commonly combine two small population hives into one to give them a better chance. It is much better to go into Winter with 4 strong colonies rather than 8 weak ones.
Get Varroa Mites Under Control
A strong population is only an advantage if those bees are healthy. Varroa mite levels should be under control well before winter bees are produced.
Healthy winter bees (fat bees) live much longer than summer workers and are essential to colony survival.
Monitor mite levels and use an appropriate Varroa treatment when needed—waiting until cold weather arrives may be too late.
Provide Good Ventilation and Moisture Control
It may sound crazy but your goal is not to keep your bees warm. You want to provide them with the resources to keep themselves warm.
Good beehive ventilation helps excess moisture escape from the hive. Condensation can become a problem when warm, moist air from the cluster rises and meets cold surfaces inside the hive.
Make sure the hive has adequate ventilation without creating excessive drafts through the winter cluster.
Decide Whether Your Hive Needs Insulation
Do you need to wrap or insulate your beehives for winter? Maybe—it depends on your climate.
In many areas, healthy colonies with adequate food stores do just fine without extra insulation.
Beekeepers in regions with long periods of extreme cold may benefit from adding insulation or a hive wrap.
Whatever method you use, remember that moisture control is important. A tightly wrapped hive that traps excess moisture can create more problems than it solves.
Thats why I often include a diy quilt box on my hives – just under the outer lid.
Reduce the Entrance and Keep Mice Out
As cold weather approaches, reduce the hive entrance to help protect the colony from cold winds and unwanted visitors. Commercial entrance reducers can be flipped around for smaller openings.
You will often see sticks or rocks used on mine – LOL . The point is – a smaller entrance is also easier for the bees to defend. Robber bees can be a problem late in the season.
Also, Marty Mouse would love to spend the winter inside a warm beehive with plenty of food. Install a mouse guard if needed—especially in areas where mice are a common winter problem.
I have not had a big problem with mice in my milder climate but I do reduce hive openings.
Remove the Queen Excluder
If you use a queen excluder, remove it before cold weather arrives.
As the colony moves upward through the hive to reach stored honey, the queen must be able to move with the cluster.
Leaving an excluder in place can prevent the queen from following the bees and may result in her being left behind as the cluster moves upward. Cold queen = dead queen.
Planning Ahead
After you finish winterizing your beehives, don’t forget to take care of the equipment and tools you will need for next season.
Don’t forget to store your honey supers, those with drawn honeycomb need special care to protect the wax from pests.
Having a dedicated place beekeeper storage area for all supplies and equipment is important (suits, tools and other items when not in use).
Expect to experience some loses, even with the best plans. Most beekeepers quit beekeeping due to colony loss but you can do things to improve the odds.
A Few Final Winterizing Tips
Finish any needed liquid feeding before consistently cold weather arrives – stop sugar water feeding. Once temperatures drop, bees may be unable to take syrup efficiently. It also adds moisture to the hive.
Take one last look around the bee yard. Make sure hive tops are secure, entrances are clear and each colony has the best setup possible for the winter months ahead.
FAQs
It is not necessary to keep the grid boards under the hives during the winter in most places. If colder than normal weather is in your forecast it is okay to insert the grid for a bit and then take it back out.
Many factors are involved in determining the amount of honey needed by a colony. The typical range of honey requirements for winter beehives in the US is 50# – 100# of stored honey.
Sure, if you are not concerned about disease – you can move full honey frames from a colony with excess to one that needs more food.
Final Thoughts
One of the first true beekeeping tests for beginner beekeepers – Can you get your colonies through the Winter season?
Winterizing your beehives does not require a lot of time. It may be as simple as checking food stores, colony strength and hive conditions one last time.
Give your bees what they need before cold weather arrives—and then let them do what honey bees have been doing for a very long time.
My advisor says to keep queen excluders in during winter. Bees then don’t have to get used to or baulk at excluder in spring. Opinion? Thanks
In my region, we do have some cold weather. The cluster moves up through the boxes to stay in contact with honey. Usually, the queen can not move up and is left below to freeze. This is why I always remove excluders before cold.
Your reasoning makes sense to me.
Do you ever have bees not go up to honey supers because of QE?
I have only had one instance over the years where I had problems. Usually moving a frame or two up temporarily solves the problem.
Last fall I did research on insulation for our local group of bee herders. Surprised how little information is available after WW II. It appears that during and after WW II, Commercial beekeeping took over and those who intended to move hives frequently did NOT want to have to move bulky hives covered with insulation.
What I found? insulation is not just for winter as hives are insulated in a lot of hot weather countries –instead of having a lot of bees cool the colony, insulation lets more bees forage for nectar.
And rather than warming the colony, insulation appears to be used to decrease honey use in cold months and increases honey production in warm months.
I definitely will insulate ALL of my hives after reading the past studies.
And the original langstum patent provides insulation!
I agree that insulation can be beneficial in all climates (along with proper ventilation of course). And beekeepers in extremely hot regions make use of insulation too. While it may not be necessary in many areas – when done properly it may be beneficial.
I have done everything this year but finding I still have quite a few mites. Using Oxalic acid vapor 3 times to correct it, twice so far and only a few dropped on the second one! Might do it two more times (every 7 days)?? Used formic pro middle of September!
Great site from 1000 Islands Ontario Canada.