Quick story and then some questions: I tried to make some increases in
July/August (in the foothills of western North Carolina), but there wasn’t
ever enough of a nectar flow for my splits to build up much strength.  I
probably should have learned how to overwinter nucs, but instead I combined
my smaller hives.

That left me with some excellent queens, freshly raised, that just never
had a chance to perform.  So I fashioned a half dozen form boards, and
shook a handful of loyal bees with each surplus queen onto one frame each.
Then I put the whole shebang over a queen excluder and let the workers all
mix.  I was afraid the bees would cluster and leave half the queens to
freeze to death, so I put them over a screened bottom board, closed up the
entrance, and brought them in the house.  That’s where I’m at now, two days
later.

My long-term interest is in raising my own queens in the fall, then
overwintering them with a minimal cost of equipment, bees, and honey,and
then having queens to make splits in the early spring.  Can I overwinter
multiple queen hives as long as I keep them warm enough that they don’t
cluster (and presumably leave queens behind to freeze)?  I’m planning to
leave them in a heated space but give them access to the outdoors.  Is one
full-length frame plenty of space for a queen during the winter months? How
will bees overwinter at 50-65 degrees F?  What would I serve to gain by,
alternately, overwintering nucs or mininucs outside?  Essentially I’m
talking about banking queens over winter, except instead of being in cages
they’d be on comb.  Will that make any
difference?  Perhaps in terms of how they’re cared for?

I saw in the archives mention of Brother Adam overwintering queens.  Could
anyone tell me about Brother Adam's methods?

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