Winterizing Our Beehives: Lessons From Two Years In

This is our third winter beekeeping, and this year we have three hives! Last winter we only got one of our two hives through to spring, so winterizing our beehives properly is on our minds more than usual this year, we're paying closer attention and adjusting a few things based on what we think went wrong.

1. Checking how much honey they've got stored up

Right now we're just monitoring, hefting each hive from behind to get a sense of stores, and keeping an eye on how things look going into the colder weeks. A hive generally needs somewhere in the 60 to 90 pound range of honey to make it through winter, depending on climate, so this is something we're watching closely across all three hives rather than assuming they're all in the same shape.

2. Entrance reducers are already in

We've got entrance reducers on all three hives now. Smaller entrance, less cold air getting in, and it gives a smaller winter cluster less ground to defend against robbers and pests.

3. Bee wrap and quilt boxes, once it's consistently cold

We already have bee wrap on hand, and we'll be using it along with quilt boxes once temperatures drop and stay down, we're not rushing this part, since wrapping too early can trap moisture before it's actually needed. Moisture seems to be as much of a threat to a hive over winter as the cold itself, so we're trying to time this right rather than just get it done early for peace of mind.

4. Watching the queens, and understanding what we can and can't fix this late

This is the piece we're still learning the most about. If a queen is failing or missing this late in the season, requeening often doesn't leave enough time for a new queen to lay and build up a colony of her own offspring before winter sets in. From what we understand, combining a struggling hive with a stronger one is usually the better move at this point in the year. While we don't know exactly what caused last year's loss, we've been making sure to pay closer attention to our queens this year to give ourselves the best shot at a better outcome.

Three hives going into winter feels like real progress from where we started, even with last year's loss still in mind. We don't have this figured out, but we know a little more than we did a year ago, and that's really all we're hoping for each season. If you've kept bees longer than us and have thoughts on any of this, we'd genuinely like to hear them.