I am a hobbyist considering a different supering strategy and I would like your
comments. Since we in the Boston area have to make sure the Apistan strips
are installed by the first or second week of August, we cannot harvest any
late season honey flow. Therefore, what I've been thinking is to stay with
a single brood chamber with a queen excluder, and install 3-4 supers by late
May. When I take off the supers by August 1, I would then remove the queen
excluder and install the Apistan strips and a second deep brood chamber.
 
My previous strategy was to install a second deep brood chamber in late May
and supers in June. I have then left the supers on until late August/September. This has
worked poorly because the Apistan strips get in too late (mid September)
and my bees have not overwintered successfully.
 
My new strategy would be to manage the hive for early season honey production, put the
strips in in early August and let the bees use the late season flow for their stores.
 
The risk is that if there is weak late season honey flow, the bees would
not be able to fill the second deep. Since I have quite a bit of honey from
a hive that died over the winter, I could feed it to them in September if required.
 
My other concern is whether a single deep may encourage swarming; is there sufficient
brood real estate in a single deep or would overcrowding occur? The package I installed
last season swarmed in early June even with a second deep.
 
 
Roland