I am a second year beekeeper and I want to be sure my hive is ready for the winter. I lost my hive last year, I think from starvation. I have been feeding my hive for the past 3-4 weeks with 1/1 sugar syrup. I live in Southern Connecticut so the winter can be quite cold but you never really know what to expect. The bees are taking between a qt and half gallon of syrup daily. The bees are in two deep boxes now and they are both pretty full. The bottom box is completely full with brood and sugar syrup/honey. The top box is full except for maybe two frames with all syrup/honey. I haven’t done a test for mites, but I have read that a first year hive, mites should not be a problem. When I open the hive for inspections, I can see around 20 or more SHB. I have been using beetle blaster type traps, and the beetles that I see are mostly hiding in the bottom of the frames in the cracks between the wood and foundation. Should I add a medium super at this time or is it too late in the season. I had the medium super on late in the summer but I took it off because they never really did much with it and I didn’t want to give the beetles the extra space. The hive seems much larger now than when I took it off, I guess because of the feeding? When I checked it yesterday, it was the most active I have ever seen it with bees covering the entrance and hundreds of bees flying around the front. They seemed pretty calm though so I don’t think there was any robbing going on. I assume it is much to late for them to swarm, so I guess it was just because it was a really nice day (sunny and in the lower 70’s) and the hive has been growing. Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare for winter. I don’t want to lose my hive again this winter.