The survival of a honeybee colony through the colder months depends on successful winter preparation, which centers on ensuring the hive has sufficient food stores. Starvation is the greatest threat to a colony during the winter. Determining the correct amount of stored honey is the most important calculation a beekeeper makes in the fall.
Establishing the Baseline Honey Requirement
A strong colony in a temperate climate requires between 60 to 90 pounds of honey for winter stores. Colonies in milder southern regions may survive on 40 pounds, while those in northern areas with long, severe winters need 90 pounds or more. This weight fuels the bees, allowing them to generate heat by shivering their flight muscles within the winter cluster.
This stored weight translates to a physical volume within the hive boxes. A fully capped deep frame typically holds between six and eight pounds of honey. To meet the 60 to 90 pound baseline requirement, a beekeeper should aim to leave the colony with the equivalent of 8 to 12 full deep frames of capped honey.
Leaving natural honey is superior to replacing it with sugar syrup for winter survival. Honey contains trace minerals, vitamins, and amino acids, providing a more complete diet for the long-lived winter bees than refined sugar syrup. Capped honey is also cured by the bees to a low moisture content, which reduces the risk of excessive moisture and condensation within the hive during cold weather.
Regional and Hive Factors Affecting Storage
The baseline honey requirement must be adjusted based on factors unique to the colony and its environment. The local climate is the most obvious variable; areas with consistently sub-freezing temperatures and extended periods where bees cannot fly require the maximum stored weight. Conversely, a mild climate with frequent warm days for cleansing flights demands less total food.
The size of the bee population going into winter is another significant factor. A larger, denser cluster is more efficient at thermoregulation because they have a lower surface area to volume ratio, reducing individual energy consumption. Small colonies struggle to maintain the necessary cluster temperature and are disproportionately likely to starve.
The type of equipment used also affects the final calculation. Beekeepers using 8-frame equipment or medium boxes must account for the smaller capacity of each box compared to standard 10-frame deep boxes. For instance, a double-deep hive setup requires a greater total volume of stored honey than a single-deep setup in the same climate to ensure the cluster can access food as it moves upward.
Techniques for Monitoring Honey Stores
Beekeepers must monitor honey stores throughout the winter without excessively disturbing the temperature-sensitive winter cluster. The most common non-invasive method is “hefting,” which involves gently lifting the back of the hive to estimate its weight. A strong, well-provisioned hive should feel surprisingly heavy, making it difficult to lift the back end with one hand.
This technique is best performed in the late fall to establish a baseline and then repeated periodically throughout the cold season. For a more precise measurement, a luggage scale can be hooked under the back of the bottom board to get an actual weight reading. Tracking the weight loss over time helps predict when the bees might run low on food.
Some beekeepers use permanent or digital hive scales, which provide continuous weight data without physical disturbance. Visual inspection of frames should be reserved only for warmer days, ideally 40°F or above, in the late fall or very early spring. Opening the hive in freezing temperatures can chill the developing brood or break the tight winter cluster, leading to colony death.
Supplemental Feeding When Stores are Low
If monitoring reveals that the hive’s stores are inadequate, supplemental feeding becomes necessary to prevent starvation. This intervention must use solid feed, as liquid sugar syrup introduces too much moisture and humidity into the hive. This excess moisture can lead to condensation and fungal growth in cold temperatures, and bees cannot effectively process or store cold syrup.
Common solid feeds include commercial fondant, hard candy boards, or dry sugar applied via the “Mountain Camp” method. Fondant is a pliable sugar paste placed directly on the top bars or over the inner cover hole, making it immediately accessible to the cluster. Sugar bricks are a similar solid feed, made by combining granulated sugar with liquid and allowing it to harden.
The Mountain Camp method involves pouring dry granulated sugar onto a layer of newspaper placed over the top bars of the frames. Bees utilize the moisture generated by their respiration to dissolve the sugar crystals, consuming them as needed. This dry sugar also acts as a desiccant, helping to absorb excess moisture within the hive cavity. Supplemental feeding is most often required in late winter or early spring when the queen begins laying new brood, which increases the colony’s energy demands.