Decent amount of food left in hive #2
I’ve done my January check in, and both hives look alive. Typically sluggish as they are in the winter, but alive. At 41F today, and a mild winter so far (almost no snow and some Dec days above 50F), I think the two colonies will make it to the spring, and judging from experience, getting this far is a good sign. But, there can always be changes. Last year they were alive at this time, but died during an unseasonably bad cold snap for 4 weeks starting at the end of Jan.
Both colonies have a reasonable amount of extra food left over (a little less in hive #1). I’m not going to feed them today, but possibly next weekend when I have more time to make up their food.
Note for next winter: Have a spare set of feeding boards. This way I can make up a new set of candy, and swap the old candy board out for the new one in one move, thus having to open the hives only once to re-feed.