I need some help and suggestions on a particular problem I have with a
couple of my hives.  Some of my hives have a very large amount (6 to 10
frames) of frames with pollen, mostly in the lower brood chamber (I use two
standard brood chambers all year round).  In years past, as the bees moved
up, these pollen frames were particularly susceptible to becoming moldy -
and occasionally the pollen gets so hard that it has to be cleaned out and
thrown away.  There is very little honey stored in these pollen frames, and
no brood.  Basically, these frames seem to be of little use for the bees in
getting thru the winter.  I need some suggestions on how to stop these
pollen frames from becoming a moldy nightmare by next spring (should I
remove them and "store" them somehow and put them back in the spring?), and
depending on those answers, what should I do with a double brood chamber
hive that essentially is using just the upper chamber for brood and honey
storage at this time of the year.  I am in western Oregon, just southwest of
Portland.  Our weather is mostly rainy in the winter and in the 40 degree
Fahrenheit range.  We get freezing weather a couple weeks worth.
 
Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Rick Grossman
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