"You could also say they were too healthy. ...........
The cure is simple and it is to put candy directly over the cluster if it
has moved all the way up in the box. "
Based on this past winter's experience, I would have to concur. Lost several strong colonies, including Russians, (e.g. cluster covered six frames across 1.5 boxes), when they 'chimneyed' up through three deeps and starved. Found them on the tops of the frames in the top deep with lots of stores to either side (including front to rear, so it was not just a matter of being unable to move frame-to-frame). This happened across multiple strains with the same management technique I have used in the past, so my guess is it had to do with the squirrelly weather this past winter. The colonies I was able to save also were at the tops of the frames, but I did the 'granulated sugar on newspaper' method and saved all of them. Each got pollen patties, too, as needed. I posted links to my pics earlier this year. The ones I saved have done fine, and I made several splits from them.
So, this year I have been re-queening across the board back to NWC (have tried Italian, Weaver Buckfast (Italian-lite?), Russian, NWC, and a variety of branded 'mutts'). I have found NWC to be the most frugal and 'smartest' in handling winter stores (with Russians a close second, but harder to keep in a mixed yard). The clusters can be so small in the spring that they are scary (e.g. softball size) - look for sure to be goners. But, they really explode as soon as spring arrives, especially if given pollen patties early. They may not be optimal for commercial operations, since they can miss the beginning of an early flow unless they are built up with early feeding, but they seem to 'get it' better up here in northern New England. My one-point-five cents (inflation).
p.s. Learning from this experience, a new management practice I have adopted is the use of a stethoscope (learned it from this list). With it, I can tell exactly where the cluster is within the three deeps without having to open the hive and break the propolis seals. It really works very well, also for checking nucs. Plan to use it regularly next winter and map the cluster movement over time (approximately, of course). Another thing I plan to try is to add the newspaper and sugar in the late fall to all my hives, regardless of the individual stores. The way I see it, the cost and time are minimal investments for my scale operation (about 12 hives + nucs) in what amounts to insurance. If they don't need it over the winter, the bees will take it in the spring, when I add pollen patties. In the meantime, the newspaper and sugar act as 1) a moisture sink, and 2) something of an insulation barrier.
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Bill
Claremont, NH
+43.35687 +43° 21’ 25”
-72.3835 -72° 23’ 01”
CWOP: D5065
Weather Underground: KNHCLARE3
HonetBeeNet: NH001
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