In a message dated 96-06-12 15:27:56 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Joel Govostes)
writes:
 
>The 20 single story hives which I made up as splits with queen cells are
>doing well.  Maybe TOO well.  A few of the queens have started laying.  BUT
>-- the black locust (wonderful) flow has been long and heavy.  So whilst
>waiting for their queens to emerge and get to work, guess what my little
>friends have done?  Yup; in many cases almost completely filled the single
>brood chambers with honey!  So much so that there are precious few cells
>for the queens to lay in.  It was quite a sight to lift lid after lid and
>be greeted with rows of bulging, pure white capped combs.
>
>Q:  Will the bees move this honey to make room for the brood??!
>I have added a honey super over an excluder on each hive with hopes that
>they will.  Much of the honey clogging the brood chamber is capped already.
>On one hive it was so bad I gave the queen (laying) a new empty brood
>chamber under the honey filled one.  Still, I was hoping to keep these to
>one story and move them easily once there were a few combs going well with
>brood.  Any suggestions appreciated -- figures there's such a great flow of
>light honey after such a lossy winter!    Cheers,   JWG
>
>
 
   The old time beekeeper told me, that when there isn't a flow, you can't do
anything right.  When there IS one, you can hardly do anything wrong.  But,
he added one exception:  not having enough supers on, when the flow is on.
 
   Honeybound hives will dwindle, because there is no room for brood rearing.
 Soon the bees will be all old bees, and they are apt to be nasty, as well.
 And going into winter with old bees and little stored pollen is a certain
prescription for winter loss.  I think it also tends to encourage more mite
build up, etc.
 
      They will not move capped honey back upstairs in my experience.  You
need to pull three or four frames and put empty comb back so the queen has
room to lay.  If I didn't have empty comb, I'd use foundation, though there
are some good reasons not to put that in the brood nest right now. --Still
better than being honeybound.
 
   Alternatively, put another brood chamber underneath.  If you have deeps,
just move down a frame of brood with the queen, and what brood there is above
the excluder will hatch and be replaced with honey.  Give them an upper
entrance, so drones can escape, or they'll clog the excluder with their
carcasses.
 
   Our spring flow is over here, and we are sizzling.  I just came in for a
while to enjoy some air conditioning, because my legs were getting a little
wobbly.  We had an exceptionally good flow, and if I hadn't had to make up so
many new hives/nucs, we'd have had a very large honey crop.  As it is, we
made more than in any of the last three years.  Last year was really poor,
with no spring honey at all, and the fall flow didn't come near to making up
the deficiency.
 
   I'm hearing reports of good flows all over the northeast.  Not much
competition for the nectar, maybe.
 
  Nice to have a good year now and then........Right????
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554
 
Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
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