Melissa, welcome. Again, as other said, you will find this forum to be a wonderful learning tool, we are family. Listen to the beekeepers in your area, they know your weather. And yes, as Bluegrass told you, it is really important to have strong colonies going into winter. 1,500 is not even close to being enough, find a way to get more bees and combine them to help your hive out to become strong for this forthcoming winter. Good luck, girl, have a wonderful day, great life. Cindi