10/16/2026
We’re tucking the girls in for winter. 🐝
One of our last big hive checks of the season is all about seeing how the girls are doing and making sure they have what they need for the colder months ahead.
Out of our four hives, three have plenty of honey stores, which is great to see! Honey is their ideal food source, so having those reserves to carry them through winter is exactly what we hope for. 🍯
We’re also noticing that most of our queens appear to have slowed or stopped laying for the season.
This is part of the shift into winter. Rather than continually raising new brood, the colony gets a break from that energy-intensive work. The bees raised for winter are different, too. These winter bees live much longer than summer bees, helping the colony survive the months ahead when there’s little to forage.
As the days begin to lengthen after the winter solstice, brood rearing may pick back up, depending on temperatures, food stores, and the conditions inside and outside the hive.
We’re also giving the girls some dry sugar as an extra backup food source in case they need a little help along the way. Three hives looking good on honey stores is encouraging, but we want to be prepared for what winter brings.
Our work isn’t quite finished, either. We’ll continue treating for mites through November, following the treatment instructions, and check on their emergency sugar stores whenever the weather is warm enough for a safe hive inspection. Even as the hives get quieter, there’s still a little tending to do behind the scenes.
Over the next few months, we probably won’t have much to share about these ladies. They’ll be clustered together, conserving heat and living off the resources they’ve stored while we let them do their thing.
There’s something special about this seasonal shift. Our job now is to prepare them as best we can, then give them the space to get through winter.
Here’s to a safe, cozy winter ladies!💚🐝
