Final Winter Preps for the Colonies staying here - at our Farm in Eastern Washington

This weekend, I put my hives to 'bed' up here on our farm in Eastern Washington.  The weather is about to turn pretty cold so I want to do my final preps to give them the best shot of surviving our long winters here.  

The first step is to provide a 'sugar box' for emergency feed.  Bees like to move up in the supers and this seems to work well.  This is just simple dry table sugar you can get from a store.  I use one sheet of newspaper that they can chew through it.  The sugar will crust over a bit from the hive moisture and new 'dry' sugar is exposed as they eat their way through it.

The 'sugar box' is a simple box with 3 or 4 inch walls with a 1/2 inch screen mesh. 

Sugar box placed on brood chambers

Once the sugar box is placed on the hive, I use another box that is filled with burlap.  This acts in two ways:   It insulated and removes moisture.  The key to winter survival is for the hive to be dry and well feed.  Moisture is the real problem here.

Simple box with stand offs

Burlap scraps

 This insulator box is a simple thing - just a an old box with some stand offs to support the burlap.  This burlap can be removed later in the winter - if it gets too moist.  The point here is to trap the moisture here - and away from the bees.

Here's the setup for a different perspective:

All Set for the Winter!