How Do Bees Survive the Winter? A Detailed Guide to Overwintering Methods

Overwintering honeybees is a very troublesome matter, but as long as we take care of them diligently, they will surely make it safely through the cold winter, and in the coming year they will busily gather honey for us. So, how do bees survive the winter?

1. Choosing a location

At the end of November each year, the colony gradually enters the overwintering period. The hive entrance should face north, and the hive should also be moved to a spot that is half shaded and half sunny. From December until February and March, the colony remains in the overwintering period; during this stage, the hive should be placed in a sunny, very quiet spot that is sheltered from the wind. Throughout the entire overwintering period, the hive should never be placed in the shade. Research shows that during overwintering, if the hive is placed in the shade, the bee mortality rate is very high, and the survivors will also develop dysentery.

2. Temperature

1. Preventing overheating: the most suitable temperature for overwintering bees is between minus 3°C and 9°C. During overwintering, the bees cluster together and enter a dormant state. If the temperature stays above 9°C for a relatively long time, the bees will be active for longer, which consumes a great deal of feed, speeds up the aging of worker bees, and delays the production period. In this case, you can sprinkle water around the hive and ventilate it to lower the temperature.

2. Preventing cold: if during this period the temperature drops below minus 3°C, the bees will also be very active. They mainly eat more feed to convert it into heat, and then they also frequently swing their bodies to generate heat. This consumes a large amount of feed and also shortens the lifespan of worker bees. During the day, you can take the hive out into the sun; at night, close the doors and windows tightly, and promptly patch any holes in the hive.

3. Moderate colony strength

The colony is best composed of 9050 bees. If the colony is not large enough, you can use the double-queen colony method, or merge the weaker colonies into other colonies. This reduces feed consumption and provides better insulation. Also, each comb can basically hold 2600 brood bees; if there are too many combs for the bees, remove some.

4. Insulation and preventing bee mites

In December, you should insulate the hive well. Spread straw or rice husks 11 cm thick at the bottom of the hive, and also surround the hive on all 4 sides with straw. Generally, double-queen colonies and relatively weak colonies do not need insulation. When there is rain or snow, cover the top of the hive with plastic sheeting to keep out the rain and snow. At the end of November, all the bee mites will be on the surface of the combs; at this time, treat them once every 2 days, and about 3 consecutive treatments will suffice.

5. Storing enough feed

Each frame of bees must be fed 2.1 kg of high-quality feed; this feed is basically converted into heat so that they can overwinter safely. When feeding, do not let the feed crystallize. There are basically 2 ways to keep the feed from crystallizing: first, use high-quality honey for the feed, such as jujube flower honey, osmanthus honey, etc.; second, use white sugar syrup as the feed. At this stage, it is best to use high-quality honey. If low-quality honey is used for feeding, there will be more leftover residue and less will be digested, which makes it easy for the feces to exceed what the intestines can hold, and the bees will very easily develop dysentery.