This weekend, we got all our beehives buttoned up for winter.
- First, we’ve left each hive with three medium boxes full of honey and pollen to feed the bees until flowers bloom again in spring.
- Then, above the inner cover, we’ve placed a 2.5″ sugar rim. This gives us a little space to add sugar fondant or pollen patties if extra food is needed.
- Above that, we placed a “quilt box” with a screened bottom filled with cedar shavings. These top units will absorb extra moisture, fight condensation in the hive, and keep the bees warm and dry.
Worker bees will cluster together until spring, shivering their wing muscles to generate heat and keep the queen bee at 85° – 93° F through all the storms of winter.