Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[bobdurivage]

How many bars of honey should I leave for a tb colony to winter?

[Barbara]

Hi

Obviously we are a long way off winter preparation yet so I'm not sure if you are asking so that you know if you can harvest some honey now or if you are just planning ahead for late summer/autumn harvest?

Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer to the question as to how much they will need. It depends on a number of factors like size of colony, breed of bees and climate. A tiny colony of dark bees will only need a small amount of honey to overwinter particularly in a cooler climate....maybe as little as 3lbs. A large colony of Italian bees might need 30 or 40lbs and maybe more if it is not cold and they continue to raise brood right through the winter.
We are in swarming season now, so a large colony now may swarm multiple times and dwindle to a much smaller colony by late summer. The bees will also forage throughout the summer and autumn and towards the end of summer, they reduce the amount of brood they produce and start back filling the brood nest with honey, so their honey stores should increase at that time of year if they are sufficiently strong. If you get a drought in summer and the nectar dries up, but they are still producing lots of brood, they can suddenly eat through their stores and can even starve in the middle of summer, so climate can play a huge part. Talking to local beekeepers will probably give you a better idea of what a strong colony needs to survive winter in your area.

I'm sorry that I cannot give you a definitive answer.