combining two hives?

[EmiKami]

Hello. I have two hives; Italians and Carnolians. In my opinions, they are doing good. Queens are lying eggs. However, I do not know if they are good enough to survive through winter. I know I can combine the two but someone please tell me how to tell if the hive is strong enough? If they are strong enough, I would like to leave them without combining. I need advise on what is a good hive and weak hive. I live in the Seattle area. Thanks.

[jip]

Give us a description of what's in there now with good details.
How many boxes are they in, honey stored, etc.
Then we can better assist.

[EmiKami]

Well I have not visited my hives for weeks. So I cannot tell you what they are. But each hive has three mediums that are 70% full (including brood and two supers/mediums). Most of the meduims seem to be used for brooding or pollen storage. I see some honey but my concern is that they do not have enough honey for storage. However, I may find it different if I visit now. They are healthy without any visible signs of anything.
Next time I visit ( I will try this Saturday), I will record how many frames of honey are stored.
I guess this is not clear answer to your questions. Sorry.

[chaindrivecharlie]

You need to go out and look @ them. I am not familiar with your nectar flows, ie. What's blooming out there, but they should be bigger than that. If they were that full the last time you looked. Then you should've added supers to each. As much as 2 supers each. Go check them and take along a couple supers just in case. As long as there are flowers still blooming. They will keep bringing in stores. Let us know what you find and then we can be better help to you.

[FlowerPlanter]

I do not know you area you might want to be around 150 lb, sounds like you have enough bees to keep warm. I would start feeding after fall flow if needed. Put some fondant on top of inner cover in Nov. You might want to insulate.

I put this in the mite trap below the screen, worked for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovator...ds=thermo+cube

http://www.amazon.com/RZilla-Heat-Sm...s=heat+reptile