Prepping flow hive for winter

Beekeeping - Basics Wintering your Flow Hive
1

I live in Iowa. This is my first year beekeeping. I have a local mentor and have taken a winter course from local keeper. But neither have experience with Flow hive.

First so you leave brood boxes on stand for winter?
Second is clean out tray left in?

I have two brood boxes and plan on a candy board and quilt box and bee cozy wrap.

2

Hello and welcome to the Flow forum! :blush:

You leave the brood boxes on the stand, and I would turn the tray upside down to reduce the air gap below the bees. Make sure that you take the Flow super off though, and store it for winter off the hive.

Your other preparations (wrap, food and quilt box) sound like great ideas. Keep an eye on the food periodically, they may need several batches of feed over the winter. If you haven’t tested or treated for varroa, that is another thing that needs doing ASAP. Good job so far! :wink:

3

Thanks!

Yes, I did varroa check in August. Count was very low. Treated.

Great thought on tray. I was concerned about draft and moisture accumulation

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One last thought… :blush: Well maybe a couple!

  1. You might want to check that your hive wrap will leave an entrance for the bees over winter. While they will cluster, and probably not forage much, even a bee needs a bathroom break from time to time! :wink:
  2. You might want to reduce your entrance down to about 3" wide. That helps the bees to keep the heat inside the hive, while still leaving enough gap for ventilation. If your moisture quilt box has an upper entrance, and will be outside the hive wrap, you don’t need to provide a lower entrance. It all depends on your setup
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