cold Florida bees?

[tlynn]

OK, so it's getting down in the upper 40s here tonight...crazy cold for us this time of year...and my bees are of course not bearding like normal!   Looking into the hives from under the SBBs tonight they are packed in like sardines in an almost circular ball across the width of the hives.  Pretty neat how they are conserving heat...well my question is for somebody like me living in central Florida pretty close to the beach, do I need to be concerned about any temperature control measures (whatever that might be)?  I have read about about covers, insulation blankets and such.  I mean the lowest temps we would ever expect here are mid to upper 30s in Jan or possibly Feb.  Thanks for any advice!

Tracy

[pdmattox]

no protection needed. maybe just put on some entrance reducers and let it ride. Do they have plenty of honey?

[tlynn]

One hive has almost 2 full supers and the has probably 2 1/2, maybe more now with all the pepper nectar they have been lugging in.  I have been told they only need one super/hive until spring, but I watched one hive consume probably a third of a full super in September, when not much was going on.  We were planning to pull one super from each hive in a couple weeks but I think I am going to leave it all for them.  Personally I'd rather not have to feed them.  Everybody says how good honey is for us, so I imagine it's pretty good for them too...

[mudlake]

It got almost up to 35 here today  Tony