Hi to all & happy holidays! - from No. CA - East Bay Area - Wintering

I'm a hobbits with only a few years in.  My hives are double deeps.  They had 2 lbs of supplement in Sept, went into Nov with top deep full of honey and some heavy syrup.  Bottom deep was mostly still full of brood with pollen and nectar coming in.  Fast forward to Dec 24th, we have recently had several days of rain and a couple nights near freezing, now a couple days of mid 50sF with mostly sun.  The bees have been flying coming back with at least two pollen types (loquat for one) which tells me that there is still brood.  I found a few late today on the entrance with half full brackets but too cold to get back inside the hive.  There were several older unhatched brood outside the hive also which I attribute to chill near the outside of the colony.  Interestingly, I found one drone caracas also. I have reduced (half) entrances and run a shallow on top with a full screen and shredded paper over top for moisture control.  I also rap the hives with thin roofing paper for protection against the wind and rain.  Late this week when we have a day or two of good weather they are getting an oxalic acid treatment.  Winters are so mild here that colony's likely go broodless for a very short time (have not vitrified this yet).  

Merry Christmas, happy holidays,
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