Winter Stores Calculator

Check your colony's honey stores against a climate target and see how many deep frames you still need to feed in.

How it works

A colony that runs out of honey mid-winter starves, even if the weather warms up a few weeks later, because there's no forage yet and no stored food to fall back on. How much a hive needs depends heavily on your climate: a long, hard freeze calls for far more stores than a mild winter where bees can still take occasional cleansing flights and the cluster never has to hold tight for months straight. The calculator sets a target by climate, subtracts what you currently have, and converts the shortfall into deep frames, using the rule of thumb that a full deep frame holds about 8 lb of capped honey.

Worked example: a cold-climate hive with 35 lb of stores on hand. The target for cold winters is 90 lb, so the deficit is 55 lb. Divided by 8 lb per frame and rounded up, that's 7 deep frames still needed, either already drawn out and capped in the hive or fed in as syrup with enough time left for the bees to cure it before the cold really sets in.

FAQ

How do I estimate current stores without pulling every frame?

Heft the hive from the back, or better, weigh one side with a luggage scale hooked under the hand-hold and double the number (lifting one side is roughly half the hive's total weight). Compare that to what an empty hive of the same size weighs, and the difference is a rough estimate of stores plus bees and wax. It's not exact, but it's enough to tell you whether you're in trouble.

Why does the target change so much by climate?

In a long, cold winter the cluster can't break to forage or take cleansing flights for weeks at a stretch, so it burns through stores just generating heat. In a mild climate, bees get more chances to fly, forage a little on warm days, and generally need less banked food to make it through.

Is it better to feed syrup or leave honey supers on?

Leaving the bees' own honey is generally better; it's the food they're adapted to and needs no conversion. Syrup is the fallback when a colony comes up short and there isn't capped honey to add back in. Feed syrup early enough (see the sugar syrup calculator) that it gets capped before consistently cold weather stops the bees from processing it.

What if I overestimate and feed too much?

Extra capped stores aren't wasted; they carry into spring and support early buildup. The bigger risk in most climates is under-feeding, so when in doubt, lean toward the higher end of the target range for your area.

For more on getting a hive through the cold months, see preparing your hive for winter, how much honey to leave bees for winter, and what bees do in winter and how the cluster survives.