Hi Mark, I'm no expert but this is what I did last year going into my first winter with bees, and I worked for me. I treated them for varroa, then I started to feed them, I aimed to have all feeding over before Oct 1st. The reason for this, is that, if done later, the bees have insufficient time to evaporate the excess water, causing digestive problems to the bees in the depth of winter. I fed late evening. Remember to put a reduced entrance in & leave, as will prevent robbing. I fed every evening until they stopped taking it. The beginning Oct, heft the hive to get an idea of the weight so you can monitor it by doing the same during the winter. I then put on mouse guard. Late Oct I put a match stick under each corner of the crown board, so air spreads all directions & out the thin gaps, both feed holes are covered. I put a carpet piece on top of crown board, I also leave the tray under the open mesh floor. Then last but not least, I make sure that I batten it down, with blocks on roof against winds blowing the hive over. That was it, and my bees over wintered fine with no losses. Everyone does things differently, so will be interesting to see what others do and say. There is a book I bought, called Bees at the bottom of the garden, I would have been lost without it my first year, and still often look up things in it. I would highly recommend it. Best of luck. Sharon
