Preparing for the Kansas Winter

[kansas]

Does anyone have advice on how to prepare my 6 month old, 3 super deep hive?  When should I pull off the top super to make it a 2 box hive?  Is it a good idea to freeze this years capped honey to feed back in sometimes warm late winter?

Is pollen supplementation neccessary?

Hive prep (insulation, top hole for moisture, narrowing of hive opening)?

All advice is much appreciated by the newbie!

[Scadsobees]

Does anyone have advice on how to prepare my 6 month old, 3 super deep hive?  When should I pull off the top super to make it a 2 box hive?  Is it a good idea to freeze this years capped honey to feed back in sometimes warm late winter?

I don't know what the state is, but I'd guess all of the stored honey is in the top two boxes.  If anything, take off the bottom box.  But then again, this might be tricky because this is where the brood and pollen is.  If the bottom box is mostly empty, maybe take that off, as long as there is enough pollen stored elsewere.  Or leave on all 3, they can probably handle it, and if you leave the honey on, then you don't need to feed it back to them later.  There isn't any point of taking off honey if you are going to give it back to them anyway, unless you have multiple hives and some extra frames of honey.

Is pollen supplementation neccessary?

Not normally for small non-migratory bees.

Hive prep (insulation, top hole for moisture, narrowing of hive opening)?

There are lots of variations on this.  You NEED an entrance reducer or mouse guard to keep the mice out.  I've put mine mostly on already as we've had a few cold nights, may need to remove because it got warm again.
As far as insulation and wrapping...I just have a small hole near or at the top for ventilation, and wrap with some tar paper to keep the drafts out and something for the sun to warm on the few days we get sun.

Read what the others have to say and take everything, including my post, with a grain of salt.  We're all different and live in different climates.

Rick