This is only my second winter trying to overwinter bees and I want to make sure I get things right, especially with this strange warm weather we are having. I was able to take a peek under the covers today, though I didn't open up completely so as not to disturb too much. The bees looked healthy so far, though they were at the top of the hive (2 deeps). :) It looked like there was plenty of capped honey across the entire top box and the bees were moving freely. I have one russian hive and one carniolan hive.
I am taking a very "hands-off" approach with my bees as I just love having them in the yard and I know how much honeybees are struggling; honey for me is secondary. With that said, I do want to make sure my bees don't starve. How do I know if I *need* to feed to make sure they make it, when I don't want to feed unless I have to?
Thank you,
Melissa