Honey for Winter

How many bars of honey should let my bees keep for Winter?

I hope you'll get some good answers from people soon.

I don't know the first thing about beekeeping, but in a google search I found this:
https://honeybeesuite.com/how-much-honey-should-i-leave-in-my-hive/

It seems like you could help out the bees in some ways so they need less "fuel" to get through--insulation of some kind? maximize sun exposure on them and thermal mass (stones, preferably dark in color) around the colony to capture heat during the day and keep them warmer at night?  I think bees would do it themselves but they need humans to lift heavy objects for them.

it depends on:
-severity and length of winter
-size of colony
-style of hive
-materials used
-location relative to massive objects (the thermal mass Joshua mentioned)
-location relative to daily sun/shade
-latitude
-luck
-probably several other things that don't immediately come to mind

tel jetson wrote:it depends on:
-severity and length of winter
-size of colony
-style of hive
-materials used
-location relative to massive objects (the thermal mass Joshua mentioned)
-location relative to daily sun/shade
-latitude
-luck
-probably several other things that don't immediately come to mind

Thanks Tel!  Is there a way to take honey out and then put it back in if the bees get low on supplies? like, you could check on them in February and return some honey to them--but if it's not needed then you get to eat it?  Or can you leave extra in there for security and take it out after the winter if they didn't use it up?

opening a hive in the winter is not generally a good idea unless it's an emergency.

your second option, leaving more in than you think they'll need, is a good one. unless your livelihood depends on it (and probably not even then), there's no good reason to cut it close. weather and nectar timing is too unpredictable, so leave extra.

In general ... 2 deep boxes of bees & one full super is enough honey to survive a fairly severe winter. Not a good idea to remove any honey from the deeps. Give them supplemental food if you're not sure they have enough for winter. Or they will die. Most of the honey they make in their first year should be left for them. Harvest conservatively.

Complete frames of honey store well in the freezer. 55 degrees Farenheit is minimum temp to consider opening any hive unless there is some major emergency. Just remember those bees are naked & they need to stay warmer than you to survive.

We joke around at my place, that since just about all of the bees die just about every winter, that we might be better off shaking them out of the colonies in the fall, and collecting all of the honey.