January And February

The bees keep their winter cluster intact, except on the occasional sunny days in the 50's and above when the bees can fly. The queen begins to lay eggs, and brood rearing begins in the largest, healthiest hives.
Kentucky often gets a sharp cold spell in January. Cold weather will not hurt the bees if they are ready for it with a good cluster size, plenty of stored honey, and the mites and nosema disease under control. This is not too surprising, since hives are well adapted to overwinter successfully in northern Canada. Temperatures in the hive cluster measure about 80 to 90 degrees on January days.
Your goal should be to have the bees and the equipment ready for making honey by Mid-April. Take a look at the maple trees through the month of February. The maple flowers are a drab, dark red and bees collect yellow pollen from them. This is an indication of the first availability of food for the bees, and that the end of winter is coming. YES! My bees are out today and looking good.