Winter has certainly been slow to arrive this year, but it doesn’t mean the care of your hive(s) can be relaxed. The bees are clustered around the queen to keep her warm and properly nourished. By this time, you should have your hive closed, a mouse guard installed, and proper ventilation systems in place. There are also things that you should periodically check as the winter progresses. Check your hive entrance for snow blockage. On sunny days, the bees will try to exit the hive to do cleansing flights. It is also important to make sure dead bees aren’t blocking the entrance. Remove the mouse guard and using a stick or long screwdriver, scrape the dead bees out. Make sure to reinstall the mouse guard when you’re done. You should also check food supplies and make sure the bees have ample honey. This can be verified by simply lifting the back of the hive to see if it still feels heavy. If it feels quite a bit lighter than it did last fall, it’s time to provide emergency feeding; the most common of which is hard sugar blocks. Try to perform these checks on a sunny day when the temperature is at or above freezing.