Honey Bees
Overwintering Your Honey Bees
This advice is tailored to places with cold, harsh winters. Where I live, we sometimes got through spells where the temperature doesn’t go above 0°F for a week. That doesn’t include the wind chill, which on a really harsh day can be below -20°F.
Start preparing your hives in the fall so that they are going into winter strong. Treat for varroa and replace the entrance reducer after treatment completion. Consider placing a mouse guard over the opening of the hive. Feed your hive 2:1 sugar to water solution.
If you have a weak hive, it’s best to combine it with a strong hive (and dispense with the weak queen). It may seem harsh, but the weak hive would not survive the winter and is just going to deplete the honey stores before it dies.
Hives should be protected from the wind but still get some sun. Protect from the north and west. As temperatures drop, switch feed to a candy board. By the end of October, make a second hive entrance between upper and lower hive bodies to provide ventilation and also a second entrance in case the other is blocked by snow. Wrap the hive in tar paper or some type of dark wrap to shield from the wind while also retaining heat. You may want to add Styrofoam between the inner and outer covers to help control moisture within the hive.
