The average high in December is usually right around 60, but it was almost hot this past Saturday in Austin as the temps hit just over 75 with not a cloud in the sky. I decided to take advantage of the warm weather to do one last deep inspection before the colder weather comes back.
My goals were to remove the feeder, check the number of honey frames, and to verify Large Marge was still laying well. The top two supers were all honey which is exactly what I wanted to see. In the South where our winters are not as long and cold, you should have at least 40 pounds of honey in the hive.
I also decided to take off the mouse guard at least for a few more weeks. It looks like Austin will be having a warmer winter than usual with the 10 day forecast being sunny and in the mid-60’s. There were still plenty of frames full of capped brood, and I was a little worried the girls would have trouble clearing the hive of dead bees with the mouse guard still on.
At this point, I think the hive has plenty of honey for the winter, and I don’t think I need to continue to feed them anymore. I’ll just need to add the mouse guard again later in the month when it truly gets colder and then settle in for the winter and wait for spring.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 
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