The honey bees have now settled down for the winter. They have taken down the sugar syrup which is their winter feed. They were very hungry this year - each colony had taken about 5 gallons (25 litres) of syrup - the norm would be about three and a half gallons (17 litres).
The entrance to the brood box is covered by a metal grid called a mouse guard. The bees can still come and go, but the mice can't get in, which, given the chance they would as the hive makes a nice dry and warm home for the winter. Each hive is covered in netting to hopefully give protection against Woodpeckers as they can detect the larvae and will attempt to get in for an easy meal. The nets are weighted down by a brick on the roof, this will also stop the roof blowing away in heavy winds.
Inside the hives the bees will go into a cluster and during the period when the Queen is not laying (this varies with the strain of honey bee and whether or not we have a mild winter, but November to mid-December might be the norm), the temperature in the centre of the cluster will be about 14 degrees celsius. When the Queen does start laying - usually late December or January - the bees will be working hard to maintain a temperature in the cluster of 34-35 degrees celsium which the normal brood rearing temperature.
It is hoped that no that viruses develop in the colonies and that they will get through the winter.