Hive Winter Stores Calculator (Frames, Weight & Syrup Needed)

How it works

stores (kg) = full frames × kg per frame + half frames × ½ kg per frame · target = climate range × colony factor · shortfall → 2:1 syrup litres = kg ÷ 1.07 (sugar = litres ÷ 1.14) or fondant kg = shortfall × 1.05 · hefting weight ≈ woodware + 2 kg bees + stores

A wintering colony burns honey to heat its cluster, slowly through the dark months and fast once the queen resumes laying in late winter, so the store it needs depends mainly on how long and cold the winter is and on how big the cluster is. Beekeepers count it in frames because a fully capped frame of a given size holds a predictable weight, and they check it without opening the hive by hefting — lifting one edge to feel the weight against a known target. When the tally falls short, thick syrup fed in autumn is converted to capped stores; once it is too cold for that, fondant laid on the top bars is the only food the bees can use. Starvation typically strikes in early spring, when consumption peaks and the flow has not started.

Worked example

A medium colony on Langstroth deeps in a temperate winter should carry about 22 kg (the middle of 18–25). Five full frames and four half frames hold 5 × 3.5 + 4 × 1.75 = 24.5 kg — enough, lasting roughly 18 weeks at 1.4 kg a week, and the two-box hive should heft around 45 kg. With only three full frames (10.5 kg) it would be 11 kg short: about 10 L of 2:1 syrup (9 kg of sugar) in September, or 11.6 kg of fondant later.

Frequently asked questions