Winter feed calculator — pounds still missing
Northern US Langstroths often aim at 60–80 lb of stores. Southern yards can winter lighter. Enter what you hefted, pick a target, get the deficit. Then feed 2:1 and log it so February-you is not guessing.
Rule-of-thumb stores, not a climate model. Heft + frames of capped honey beat any calculator. Regional targets vary; 40 lb is a mild-winter floor, 80 lb a cold-winter ceiling commonly cited in US club talks.
The calculator is subtraction. The failure mode is feeding once and not writing it down. HiveFlow’s calendar is the reason this page exists next to the app: deficit → 2:1 → logged feeding → reminder.
HiveTracks Pro will also store a feeding. It will also ask $69.99/year for the desktop side. If all you needed was “hive 3 is 25 lb light,” the free timeline is enough.
- Heft or estimate current stores per hive (pounds).
- Pick a target for your winter (40 / 60 / 80 lb).
- Multiply deficit by hive count.
- Feed 2:1 syrup or add candy. Log each round in HiveFlow until the heft matches the target.
Questions people type next to HiveFlow
- How much honey do bees need for winter?
- Common US club ranges: about 40 lb in the South, 60 lb in much of the Midwest, 70–80 lb in long northern winters. This tool uses the target you enter.
- How much 2:1 syrup equals a pound of stores?
- Rough field math: a gallon of 2:1 is on the order of 12 lb of sugar. The calculator reports pounds of stores still missing; convert to syrup gallons on the sugar-syrup tool.