Winter Feeding – Is It Necessary to Feed Every Winter?

Winter feeding is something that all beekeepers should be thinking about as it can mean life or death to your hive, but is it necessary to feed every winter?  Sometimes it’s hard to tell.  There are a lot of factors that go into winter feeding, and some are unknowns.  Will our winter be long and cold with lots of snow?  Will we have a warm winter without snow?  Is the hive small or large?  These are the questions the beekeeper should be thinking of before winter approaches.  How are the hives winter stores?  Do they have 10 full frames of honey to get through winter?

As we approach winter, we make sure all our hives have 7-10 full frames of honey and mix and match between hives that have extra and hives that don’t have enough to balance out all our hives equally.  Those warm winters where we don’t see much snow, and the bees may be flying around can be some concern.  With no nectar flow, the extra energy the bees use up can take a toll on the honey supplies.  The idea of putting sugar water out for the bees on nice days during the winter can cause more harm than good.  If you need to feed, check to see if the weather will be nice for a week or more.  If you have colder weather right after feeding, it can be hard on the bees’ gut and cause dysentery or death.  Your best bet is to make sure you have enough honey stores going into winter, and not bothering the hive until spring.