Wintering a bee colony: how to survive safely until spring

The winter period in our country is unpredictable and rich in all sorts of unpleasant “surprises”, so wintering bees requires thorough preparation and significant effort on the part of the beekeeper: any unforeseen “little thing” can become a serious test or even cause the death of a bee colony.

Winter time, at first glance, gives the beekeeper an opportunity to take a breath while the bees sit in the streets and wait for spring, but one should not relax - one must keep everything under control

How do bees winter?

In autumn, hardworking insects move from the active period of life to a state of rest. In the last days of the season, bees fly around only to empty their intestines. The body structure has the peculiarity of increasing, accommodating an average of 40 mg of feces. Special substances stop decomposition processes. The body's metabolism slows down, which allows you to survive the winter safely.

The food is also designed for a slight intestinal load. Which helps to successfully overcome the harsh winter. Excessive energy expenditure wears out the body. They may not live to see the new season.

With the first coolness of autumn, beekeepers take care of grouping workers on honeycombs with food. When the temperature drops to eight degrees, they move to the winter club. Strong families maintain the required temperature both in the center of the club and on its surfaces. A weak family concentrates heat on the shell. Bees work with redoubled force, expending energy and food, overloading their intestines.

In any wintering option, the bees are kept at rest, without being subjected to unnecessary influence. Particular sensitivity appears at the end of wintering. Provoked flight in cold weather guarantees bee diarrhea in the hive.

Coming out of the winter hut begins with the air warming up to twelve degrees Celsius. Evolution in different climatic zones has developed resistance to the characteristics of natural phenomena. Therefore, local breeds winter safely in their native lands.

What and how to feed bees?

First of all, bees should receive natural honey, but if there is not enough of it or it is of poor quality, the food is replaced with other food.

Sugar syrup

This food does not contain vitamins and microelements, but it is possible to maintain the vitality of bees. In addition, it will warm the hive.

How to cook:

1. Use enamel cookware, but not iron, to prevent oxidation.
2. Pour in 2 liters of water, boil for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and add 3.5-4 kg of sugar.
4. Stir thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
5. Cool until warm.
6. Add vinegar essence (approximately 1.2-1.3 ml per 4 kg of sugar), but this is not necessary.

Feeding rules:

• For 1 hive per day you need approximately 5 liters of syrup.
• Feeding time is evening.
• The state of the syrup is warm (hot and cold are excluded).
• If the bees are completely restored, the dosage is reduced to 300 ml.
• The hive must be well ventilated, otherwise condensation will be created, leading to a deterioration in the condition of the insects.

Syrup with potatoes

By adding potato juice, you can significantly improve the composition of the syrup, saturating it with useful substances.

Cooking method:

• Peel the potatoes, rinse thoroughly;
• pass the tubers through a meat grinder or grate on the finest grater;
• squeeze out the juice;
• For 1 liter of sugar syrup, add a maximum of 60 ml of juice;
• Dilute components only when warm.

How to feed:

• tie the container that you will place in the hive with gauze;
• pour the mixture into this glass container;
• put in the hive;
• Make sure that the bees not only drink the juice and syrup, but also eat the starch residue.

Dough made from sugar and honey

This recipe is used as a top dressing. Used and prepared as follows:

• take 4 kg of granulated sugar, grind it with a blender to powder;
• put a kilogram of honey on the fire (it should become liquid and warm);
• add powdered sugar, stir;
• achieve dough consistency;
• add 100 ml of water;
• make a flat cake 2 cm thick from half a kilogram of dough;
• place the dough on the frame.

Fertilizing with beebread

You can feed beebread in 2 ways:

1. Bees place bee bread on the sides of the brood, that is, on the edge of the honeycomb. When the pollen flow is in full swing, you need to remove these honeycombs and install frames with foundation in their place. And the beebread elements are installed in another housing, which will allow insects to fill them with honey and seal them. After this, take out the frames and place them in boxes, the temperature in which should be from 2 to 8 degrees. At the beginning of spring, feeding is carried out (when the bees need to gain strength).
2. Preservation of bee bread. It is necessary to remove the surface of the cells on which there is beebread with a sharp knife. Next, they are cut and passed through a meat grinder. Afterwards, wash the glass jars and dry thoroughly. Place beebread in them and fill them with honey. Roll up in the usual way. When feeding is carried out, the jars are placed in warm water so that the mass melts and becomes homogeneous. Place 300-400 grams of the product on polyethylene, which is turned over onto the frames and left as insulation. You can repeat fertilizing after 7-10 days.

You will find more information about feeding bees in this article.

Preparing bees for winter

In autumn, preparations for winter begin with the end of the season and a drop in temperature. The insects stocked up on their main food - honey and beebread.

Bribes are gradually being reduced. Then egg laying stops completely. The final sowing is carried out in the very center of the warm part of the hive from the south. After the brood emerges, the empty cells are filled with food. Bees independently eliminate cracks with propolis, reducing the size of the entrances. Overwinter:

• uterus;
• young animals;
• some adults.

The drones are expelled at the end of the honey harvest. Until the next season, they do not participate in the life of the family. Insects consume food rationally, so it is not advisable to feed drones.

The guarding of the entrance to the hive ceases, moving to the center. Wintering takes place without flights, so it must be done on the last warm day. This is the last time the insects defecate for the season. As the temperature drops, the activity of bees fades away. A club is formed, adjacent to each other.

When preparing for wintering, it is important to take into account the characteristics of the breeds. For example, Karnika is adapted to frosty conditions and variable winds. They winter in small families. For the Carpathians, family unification is practiced.

Treatment of bees and hives against diseases

Bees are quite often exposed to diseases that can lead to their death during wintering. Therefore, it is important to treat insects and hives in preparation. This is done after the last brood has appeared and the nest has formed. The most common diseases are nosematosis and varroatosis.

There are different processing methods:

• Complementary feeding with medicines. That is, the appropriate medicine is injected into the liquid food (preferably sugar syrup). Bees eat it along with their food. The veterinarian must choose the drug based on the expected disease, although there are universal remedies. For nosematosis, Fumagilin proved to be effective, and for varroatosis, Apimax.
• Smoke cannon. To do this, smoke is introduced into the hive, closed for 20 minutes, and then opened. The downside is the need to carry out the procedure twice. Today there are special preparations that treat the hive thermally using a special gun. You can fumigate hives with Folbex, Phenothiazine, Bipin.
• Liquid vapor. To do this, you need to hang a plate in the hive, onto which a liquid product is first applied. The bees touch it and spread the drug throughout the hive, creating a chain reaction effect. Or vapors are released from the plate, which the bee absorbs through the respiratory tract. Products: Nosemaline, oxalic acid.

Some chemicals have a negative effect on the family. Therefore, choose products based on natural ingredients.

What do bees do in the hive in winter?

In overcoming the cold, bees independently prepare for wintering. No need to worry about greenhouse conditions. Nature has developed its own methods during evolution.

All individuals unite in a single club to maintain warmth. There is a constant movement from the top of the club to the inside, pushing out those who have warmed up and stocked up on food. The lower the temperature, the higher the activity. The club moves to the top, to the back walls in search of food. The heat in the core rises to thirty degrees. At the edges up to fifteen degrees.

The best place is in the womb!

Of course, with the onset of autumn, the queen no longer lays eggs so actively, but this process still continues. After all, bees worn out over the summer are unlikely to survive the long winter. And a huge number of them died over the summer. Therefore, the burden of wintering will fall on the wings of young bees that appear in August and September. It is they who will take care of the future offspring, which, with the beginning of spring, will make their first flight from the hive. That is why the bees continue to take care of the queen, the continuator of the family, feeding her abundantly, freeing up enough space for egg-laying, placing her in the warmest place - in the middle of the nest. And the younger and stronger the queen is, the more honey the bee family has prepared, the better the home is insulated, the longer she is able to lay eggs, sometimes until the very cold weather.

To make it more convenient for the queen and the bees raising the young, caring workers drag the honey that is not sealed in the combs from the outer and lower sections to the upper part of the hive.

Why do bees die in winter?

Mortality is influenced by various factors, including poor wintering. The right content will help minimize or completely eliminate:

• weak families;
• death of the uterus;
• hunger;
• high humidity;
• low temperature;
• diarrhea;
• illness;
• rodents.

Excessive moisture is determined by the presence of mold. The main factor is insufficient ventilation of the omshanik. Improper treatment against diseases also increases humidity levels.

The formation of excess moisture leads to souring of honey. The consequences are the death of insects due to hunger. There may be a shortage of food due to crystallization of honey and cold.

A common consequence of death may be bee diarrhea. When brood appears in the last months of autumn, proper flight does not occur. A large amount of feces accumulates. A full intestine of young individuals leads to pestilence of the entire family.

Honeydew honey can also cause diarrhea. Honey varieties with the highest content of active ingredients are not suitable for eating during the wintering period. These include all varieties of dark colors. It crystallizes and sours faster.

The absence of a uterus is another pestilence factor. When the bees search for the queen, the state of the club is disrupted. The insects can no longer gather again, and a steady death occurs.

Smooth death is caused by increased temperature in the house, eight degrees or excessive noise and bright light.

The slide-shaped podmor says that the bees were not warm enough, and the cause of death was starvation. While moving for food, several small tubers may form.

The cause of bee death is infectious and invasive diseases. Some of them:

• viral paralysis;
• salmonellosis;
• calcareous, sacbrood;
• rotting larvae.

When eliminating diseases, special treatment is carried out. It is necessary to combat pathogens correctly so that this does not become another reason for the death of bees.

What is wintering?

Many insects, having grown fat over the summer and autumn, have adapted to wait out an unfavorable period with low temperatures and a lack of food in a state of hibernation. Bees are not able to accumulate fat for the winter and can survive only if their body temperature does not fall below +14…15 ℃.

One of the features of a bee is that its body temperature can fluctuate from +13 to +44 ℃. At temperatures below +13 degrees the insect stops flying, at +8 it falls into torpor, and when it drops to +2 ℃ (and below) it dies.

To survive the winter, bees have developed their own unique method - gathering in a club. This usually happens when it gets cold outside and the ambient temperature does not rise above +8 ℃.

Looking into the hive in winter, you can see a club that looks like a flattened ball

The active life of insects continues in the club: they consume food and, thanks to the use of muscular energy (due to micromovements of the pectoral muscles), maintain a constant temperature - about 25 degrees inside and 12 along the outer edges of the club. The insects located in the outer layer form a shell 3-5 cm thick. When the honey in the crops of these bees runs out, they move inside, giving way to insects from the central part. With increasing cold weather, the club contracts, increasing the thickness and density of the shell; with warming, it expands. The club does not remain in one place, but gradually moves from the brood frames towards the top of the hive.

Nutrition of bee colonies in winter

In winter, a family’s food consumption is 18–25 kg of honey. The food is pre-sealed for safe storage. The bee club gradually moves upward, eating supplies. At the same time, free sealed honeycombs are occupied. It is advisable to select frames in dark shades.

Feed consumption depends on the quality of the hive. Warmth, low humidity and high-quality ventilation guarantee minimal consumption. A strong family is able to independently make the necessary amount of supplies for the winter. Harvested honey is stored in a thick form. Insects disperse it with specific glands. The necessary moisture is taken from the steam released during breathing. Excess moisture spoils the honey, causing death.

During winter, bees do not defecate when consuming high-quality fodder honey. Crystallized or sour food causes diarrhea and nosematosis, which is detrimental to the entire family.

Weak bee colonies require more food to maintain warmth. Wintering is better tolerated if there is a young queen in the hive.

Bee food:

• honey;
• honey is full;
• syrup;
• powdered sugar;
• honey;
• protein feeds.

Syrup is the most economical food. No additives, but also no protein.

Useful tips for beekeepers

Every experienced beekeeper can share with a novice beekeeper his tricks and secrets, thanks to which the bee colony will successfully overwinter.

Here are some of the recommendations:

• Be sure to insulate the hives. A variety of materials are used for this. Most often, to save money, beekeepers take improvised things - foam sheets (left over from household appliances), plastic films, polyurethane foam, old bags, warm clothes, straw and much more.
• To better maintain warmth in winter , all hives are moved to each other, that is, grouped. If you place them very close, there will be no open walls for the wind to pass through. And you will have to use less insulating material (either several hives are covered separately, or one structure, albeit a large one).
• Bee houses are insulated not only from the outside, but also from the inside. To do this, insulating frames are installed on both sides of the club, and warm fabric or any insulating material is placed on top. Straw, felt mats or leaves are placed under the glue.
• The outer side is upholstered with suitable material. For this, small nails and glue are used.
• In the autumn, feeding is necessary , so that the queen will not lose its functionality, and the working individuals will remain active.
• If you add vinegar to sugar syrup , then strictly monitor the dosage, since an excessive amount of acid leads to underinfusion of the sweet mass. As a result, sealing does not occur.
• The relative humidity in the hive should be between 70 and 75%.
• Avoid drafts. If the apiary is located in an open space, then the hives should be insulated with materials that do not allow the wind to pass through.
• Before installing the hives, thoroughly dry and ventilate the areas.
• During the autumn inspection, make sure that the uterus is alive and ready to produce offspring. A cause for concern is the lack of brood and eggs in the combs.
• If the bees are exhausted after the last honey plant , be sure to increase their offspring.
• When the autumn is very hot, it is important to artificially create unfavorable weather conditions for the bees. To do this, provoke a draft or shadow by opening the hives. Because bees replace themselves before wintering. If this does not happen, they will remain unprepared and will have difficulty surviving the winter.
• Strong families are placed at the bottom , weak ones, as well as nuclei with additional queens, at the top.
• Entry holes are allowed to be opened after the members of the bee family have completely calmed down.

Wintering without insulation

Sometimes beekeepers prefer to overwinter bees in a cool room. For wintering bees in omshanik, buildings made of above-ground, combined or underground wood are suitable. Insulation can be made of boards, clay or straw. Good ventilation is needed to bring in fresh air. A solid floor and strong walls retain heat.

In the absence of a special structure, for wintering bees it is suitable to keep them in:

• barn;
• greenhouse;
• basement;
• cellar;
• dressing room;
• shelter in a hut.

Wintering bees in a polycarbonate greenhouse in an area with mild frosts but heavy rainfall. The disadvantage of the structure is considered to be spring temperature changes. To avoid overheating, in the fall the greenhouse is covered with roofing felt.

The inside of the greenhouse is insulated with polystyrene foam using polyurethane foam. Compliance with the requirements ensures that the family remains strong and reduces feed consumption.

A fairy tale about a bee for kids

A fairy tale by Abdullah Alisha called “Nechkebil” will be a good help in these classes. After reading the text, you can invite the kids to draw pictures about what they liked most or remembered from what they read. An adult can also ask questions:

1. Why do bees die after they sting someone?
2. Why do bees sting?
3. Why didn't the bees sting the beekeeper?
4. Why was the main character of the fairy tale called Nechkebil, which translated means “thin waist”?

How to properly insulate hives

To insulate hives, selecting the necessary material is important. You can always have at hand:

• straw;
• sackcloth;
• Styrofoam;
• polyethylene;
• worn out warm clothes;
• polyurethane foam insulation;
• other material.

Nests are grouped in one place, reducing the number of walls that are blown through. For insulation inside, frames are used. A denser insulation is placed on top.

External insulation is carried out by sheathing using nails. It is enough to glue the foam to the walls of the house. Felt mats, straw or fallen leaves are placed underneath.

It is important to remember to have adequate ventilation. At elevated temperatures, insects are overly active. The entrance is left open. In severe frost it closes, leaving only a few small holes. You can make two tap holes, but you cannot open them completely at the same time. Adjustment of valves is provided.

Preparing the hive

One of the main enemies for insects is the wind. Therefore, you need to take care of the tightness of the hive. At the end of summer, beekeepers usually insulate the bee house externally and internally. Virtually any construction waste, such as polystyrene foam, plastic, pieces of polystyrene, or foil, is suitable for this.

The hive cover is insulated thanks to a fabric or felt construction. It is better to use natural materials, such as cotton or linen fabrics. It is not advisable to use synthetic winterizer for insulation, as bees can simply get entangled in it and die.

The hive is cleaned of dirt and old honeycombs. The lower sector of the honeycomb is removed, which allows optimizing the living space for wintering bees. All bee houses are placed on the south side. This allows you to receive an additional source of sunlight.

There is no need to seal the hive, as the bees will need ventilation anyway. To do this, you can drill small holes directly into the roof of the hive. Usually, two or three small holes are enough for bees to function normally. Such holes will help avoid excessive condensation, which can provoke the development of mold in the hives.

How bees overwinter in a hive in an apiary

During the wintering process of bees of autumn generations, the body accumulates nutrients in the form of proteins, fats, and glycogens. The content of free fluid decreases, the type of metabolism of the body changes.

In autumn, with the onset of cold weather, bees form a winter club. At first it is quite loose and can disintegrate under the influence of positive daytime temperatures. Resilience comes with cold weather. The density of the club increases and lasts throughout the cold period.

Wintering bees in a hive involves forming a winter club in order to save food and maintain the required temperature.

How do insects prepare for the wintering process?

As mentioned above, bees begin preparing the nest in the fall. Insects prepare excess honey for nutrition and store it in the upper honeycombs of their hives. At the end of summer, bees intensively collect nectar and seal it in honeycombs so that it does not ferment during storage.

The worker bees then expel the drones from the hive. They simply drag them to the bottom of the hive, where they weaken and then die without food. Then the bees lift the drones and drop them to the surface of the earth. This unique natural behavior allows you to significantly save food supplies for the winter.

After preparing supplies and getting rid of drones, the bees carefully cover all the cracks in the hive with a special substance called propolis. By the way, in Rus' they even determined the weather from bee houses. If the bees covered the hives with propolis too thoroughly, then the winter will be cold and very harsh. Bees prepare their shelter by clearing it of dust particles, small debris and grass. Every day they become less and less active, and with the onset of frost they completely intertwine into a large ball.

Features of bees wintering outside

Preparing a hive for the winter outdoors differs for different climate zones. In the southern regions, free wintering does not require excessive insulation. Which is completely the opposite for the north of the country.

Options for wintering bees outside under the snow are more often used by experienced beekeepers. It is important to eliminate the gaps, insulate them in the fall, and cover the hives with snow. Wintering bees outside in central and northern Russia is impossible without insulation.

First, beekeepers check the protection of the houses from strong winds. Shields can be trees, buildings or fences. In the absence of protection, the walls are insulated with roofing felt and slate. The walls and bottom are insulated. The entrances are covered with shields.

During wintering, healthy, strong individuals hatch in hives under the snow. The early flight begins. It is important to take into account that the snow masses do not lie close to the houses and do not fall into the entrances. During the cold season, bees outside in winter eat several kilograms of food more than in the omshanik.

Basic methods of winter maintenance

There are many ways to keep bee colonies in winter. The choice of one or another of them depends on climatic conditions, quality of feed, condition of the hive, etc. If winters are long and with bitter frosts, then the best option would be to place them in a winter hut. If the climate is mild and allows insects to even make winter flights, then many beekeepers leave them in the wild - in a “cold” wintering area. It is more advisable to use the method that, at the lowest cost, will allow the bees to be preserved in a given area for the new season.

Wintering bees in the wild

In the southern regions of Russia (Kuban, Rostov region) and Ukraine, bee colonies are often left to overwinter directly in the open-air apiary.

In regions with mild climates, evidence is left in the apiary without being brought indoors

Supporters of cold wintering of bees argue that a strong colony can easily overwinter in the wild and this will only benefit it. Such insects swarm less and are more productive. The flyby occurs on the first fine sunny day a month before the standard dates, or even earlier. This is important because, having cleared themselves of feces, the bees begin to actively grow brood and by the time of the usual exhibition from the winter hut there are 4-5 frames with brood in the nests. It is to feed it that 2-3 kg of “extra” honey is consumed, which is eaten during wintering in the wild.

For this method you need:

• insulate the nest, put a store on the ceiling, place pillows and dry moss in it. Place the hives on stand boxes 30-40 cm high with dry leaves and moss (this measure will help increase the temperature inside the housing by 2-5 ℃). Many beekeepers recommend using car tires as a stand. In this case, the upper entrance is open all winter, providing air flow and the opportunity for bees to fly around during the thaw;
• provide insects with high-quality food;
• have a sufficient number of young individuals;
• eliminate factors that may cause concern to the bees - cover the barriers from rain, snow or wind getting into the hive.

If the winter is snowy, it is advisable to rake up the snow and fill the hives with it from the back and sides to the very cover, from the front to the middle. If frost hits, it is advisable to completely cover the hives with snow. Snow cover will help reduce the energy costs of bees to maintain the optimal temperature in the nest and, accordingly, reduce food consumption.

Covering with snow allows air to pass through and helps maintain a more even temperature without sudden changes.

In winters with little snow, it is necessary to compensate for the lack of snow with straw, roofing felt, synthetic insulation, etc.

Wintering in a winter hut

During the cold season, most beekeepers move hives with their inhabitants to specially built or adapted above-ground or semi-underground winter huts - closed, unheated rooms. This makes it possible not to depend on weather conditions, the presence or absence of snow, frost and other factors. Typically, hives are placed in a winter hut in the first half of November, when the average daily temperature drops below zero.

Stronger families should be placed on the lower shelves, closer to the door. It is better to place one of these hives on a scale to control feed consumption during wintering

You need to visit bees in the winter hut in December and January no more than 2-3 times a month. This is a dormant period that lasts until the brood appears. Insects behave quietly, honey consumption is 750-900 grams per family per month . In the pre-spring period, in February, life activity in families intensifies and requires more constant monitoring - at least once a week.

During inspections, it is important to pay attention to the condition of the dead. With its help, you can promptly detect negative manifestations of wintering, find out the causes of problems and take appropriate measures. At the end of February, insects in the club, in connection with raising offspring, raise the temperature in the nest to +35 ℃ and begin to consume more food. This leads to faster filling of the abdomen with excrement.

Temperature and humidity adjustment

Controlling the microclimate in the winter hut is extremely important for the successful preservation of the bee colony. The optimal indoor temperature should be +2…4 ℃ . Its decrease to minus levels (−4… −5 ℃) has an extremely unfavorable effect. In such cases, water vapor in the hive (the bee colony releases over 5 liters of water), settling on the walls and ceiling, begins to turn into frost, which melts with warming and increases humidity. The usual air humidity in the winter hut is from 75 to 85% .

Both excessive dryness and excessive amounts of moisture can be detrimental to insects.

If the air is dry, the crystallization of honey accelerates; if it is too humid, mold appears on the combs, the food liquefies, its fermentation may begin, which, in turn, threatens diarrhea, and can also provoke early activity of bees in breeding new brood.

In the photo - a psychometric hygrometer with two temperature scales

To determine the temperature and humidity of the air in a room, a traditional psychrometer is used - a special device consisting of two thermometers - dry and “wet” (moistened in water), as well as a hygrometer, which allows you to measure the humidity of solids.

If air humidity is less than 70%, it should be artificially increased: spray the walls and floor with water, hang wet burlap. If the indicators exceed 90%, it is necessary to increase the ventilation of the room (but prevent drafts) or install baking trays with quicklime (a layer of 25-30 mm), which can absorb moisture well.

If the preparation has been carried out at the proper level, then special care for bees during the winter months is not required. You can safely use the freed up time at your own discretion: repair old or build new hives, make frames, assemble spare buildings, and also improve your skills - exchange experiences with colleagues on forums for bee lovers, read specialized literature, watch videos.

Checking bees

If proper preparation for wintering is observed, it is not necessary to disturb the hive. Many beekeepers still make the rounds with the basic rules of inspection:

• The clubs are located taking into account free passage between the hive.
• The covers are carefully removed, preferably in calm weather.
• Cabins are not checked in clear weather. A cloudy, cloudy day is preferable.
• A monotonous buzzing sound in the hive signals the good condition of the colony.

By adhering to the simple rules of beekeepers to create favorable wintering conditions for bees, insects will endure any weather conditions. And already in early spring, the overwintered family will begin to bring a lot of valuable sweet product.

Basic mistakes

An experienced beekeeper has already derived from his own experience the main rules for preparing bees for wintering. However, novice beekeepers may not take into account some circumstance that will cost the life of the bee colony.

Their main mistakes are:

• Pumping out all the honey . A family cannot fully develop on syrup alone. Honey is especially needed in the spring, when the first brood is hatched;
• Overfeeding with syrup. This circumstance follows from the first mistake. In an effort to compensate for the lack of food, bees intensively process syrup, which leads to their exhaustion;
• Inaccurate feeding. Syrup spilled around the hive and on it provokes theft and even a bee war, in which many bees die;
• Late feeding . If reserves have already been made, young bees are preparing for winter, then feeding only depletes their fat body, and they go into winter weakened;
• Lack of bee bread. When the spring brood emerges, there will be nothing to feed it;
• Leaving light honeycombs. Brood did not hatch in such combs, and they do not hold heat well. Bees freeze on such honeycombs and consume a lot of food;
• Early insulation. It can provoke incorrect formation of the club, as a result of which the bees will freeze;
• Incorrect position of the hive . The bee house should be slightly tilted forward to prevent moisture from flowing into the entrance and the formation of dampness inside.

Nest assembly

Assembling a bees' nest. The club of bees will instinctively move upward onto the honey, squeezing and throwing out the outer frames. Therefore, the nest is assembled to create comfortable wintering conditions. They narrow the entrances, remove half-empty frames, supplement the nest with stored frames with high-quality food, limit them with insert boards, carefully insulate the sides and top with foam plastic or dried moss.

Preparing the hives. Check the condition of the hives and repair minor damage. To protect against rodents and birds, the entrances are barred and covered with boards placed at an angle. Natural ventilation through the lower entrance and roof removes excess moisture from the air. The club is not afraid of cool weather, but dampness can kill bees.