Buttoning the colonies up for winter

You couldn't tell by the weather here in Illinois that autumn has turned the corner. The next two weeks are supposed to be in the 60's during the day and high 40's at night. Honeybees don't like to fly when the temperature gets too low but they will fly when the weather is as nice as it has been. 

After the average daily temperature reaches the 40's, the bees hunker down for the winter. They clump in the center of the hive around the queen and eat the honey they packed away during late summer and autumn. I left them plenty of honey and because the weather throughout the beekeeping year was so good they have plenty of pollen.

When they don't fly anymore I wrap the hives with roofing paper to keep the wind out and prop the lids up 1/4" to let the moisture out (bees exhale moisture and if the moisture condenses it will drip onto the bees in the hive. Wet bees equals dead bees).

The next time I'll see them is January!

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