At 09:03 AM 7/21/97 -0400, you wrote:
>I have a couple of questions about supering for honey extraction.  This
>is
>my first season, having installed bees in April.
>
>I only purchased and assembled 2 (medium) honey supers over 2 deep
>bodies.  At this point, the bees have capped every frame in one of the
>supers.  The second super seems to be about 1/3 capped but every
>frame is fully drawn and has lots of nectar in it.
>
>I live in Central Massachusetts
>
>Questions:
>
>1.  Do the bees need an extra super?  If so, how soon?
 
Yes I would put another on immeaditly.
 
I'm not sure
>when the peek
>honey flow is here, and didn't know if the honey production will drop
>off quickly soon
>or if it will continue for a while longer.  Do the bees need more room?
>The hive population
>seems to be very high, each frame covered.
 
They could probably use another brood chamber to keep swarming from happening.
>
>2. Can capped frames be removed and replaced with new foundation?
 
Yes
 
If
>so, can the
>capped frames be stored so that extraction can be done at a later time?
 
I wouldn't store them moore than 4 or 5 days.
>
>3. How much honey should be left in the hive for the bees to overwinter?
>
 
That depends on how your winters are. I overwinter in 2 brood chambers due
to some very cold wind chill temp, at times it gets 30 to 50 below 0.
>
>Thanks for the advice.
>