Harvesting honey from bees means the end of that season and the beginning of a new season, and any care and neglect done during this period will be reflected in the next year. For this reason, autumn care should be started immediately after the honey harvest.

Dead Season; Winter

For bees, winter is a dead season. For this reason, bees should be kept either in winter quarters or outside after taking the necessary precautions. Bees do not hibernate, they spend the winter by clustering on honeycombs. The ambient temperature should be 33-36 °C degrees for the biological activities of the bee, a minimum of 7-8°C degrees for flying and at least 10-14°C degrees for collecting food.

Leaving Necessary Food for Winter

Honey and pollen stored honeycombs are left to the colonies as winter food. However, the combs should not be completely filled with honey and the eyes in the lower half should be empty. Because in winter, bees form clusters not on the honey-filled eyes, but on the empty cells just below the honey-filled part of the combs.

Especially in the spring, until the fresh pollen begins to arrive, 3-4 of the honey combs left should also have enough pollen so that the bees can start and continue to raise young. As a general rule, honey in hatching should not be harvested but left to the bee.

Queen Status, Weak Colonies and Disease Control

Weak colonies with a low number of bees, colonies without queens, aged queens, inefficient and disabled colonies should be combined during the controls. For successful wintering, a period of brood production must be ensured in autumn, and winter must be entered with young bees and queen bees. In the periods when the hatching activities after the autumn incentive feeding are very low, the autumn varroa control must be done.

Apiary where bees will overwinter;

• • The north is closed, the south is open and if possible, covered places should be chosen.
• • Open apiaries should be places that do not receive wind, do not hold water and do not accumulate moisture.
• • The hives must be placed on a stand 30-40 cm high from the ground.
• • When the temperature inside the hive drops to 14 °C, the bees make winter clusters, the center of the cluster is 33 °C and the outer surface is 5-8 °C.
• • The bee that falls out of the cluster for any reason cannot come out of the cluster again and dies. For this reason, places away from noise and noise that will disrupt the winter cluster of bees should be chosen as a wintering place.
• • The hive should be narrowed with suitable material, taking into account the number of bee frames in the flight holes.