> >After August 8 here in Southern Alberta, we usually restrict all but the
> >largest hives to 4 standard boxes, including broods.  Of course that means
> >visits must be made regularly to forestall plugging in exceptional hives.
 
> I think I know what you mean by "plugging" but could you explain it and
> how you stop it?
 
Several people have asked, so I'll write something here.  I imagine a
quick search might find some discussion of the term, but I'm not sure it
has been fully covered before here.
 
If the bees bring in so much honey so fast that there is no room (or
reduced room)  in the hive for brood, we call the hive 'plugged'.  That
honeybound condition means no  -- or few -- young bees can be raised
until the bees eat the honey or move it elsewhere.
 
In the passion of a strong honeyflow bees will often allow themselves to
become honeybound. This can be tantamount to suicide in some
circumstances.
 
Full combs will *normally* cause bees to stop foraging, and in fact
feeding heavily in the fall -- after the end of normal brood rearing --
is a way to ensure your bees do not fly around all fall wearing
themselves out in search of diminished resources.  However the honey
comes in so fast sometimes in the summer that the bees do not realise
that they are plugged until too late.  I guess it's like eating your food
too fast --there is a danger of becoming overfull before your body sends
the 'enough' message to your brain.
 
Plugging can result in a missed generation of bees, swarming in swarming
season, smaller populations of mostly older bees after some time passes,
and other harmful effects.  You can see why it will impact on wintering in
northern temperate regions if it happens on the main flow and is not
quickly remedied -- there will be no young bees in the fall and mostly
old bees going into winter.
 
This situation may not be easily detectedl.  Since raising bees reduces
lifespan and foraging also reduces individual bee lifespan, and because
the plugged hive can do neither to any great extent, the population count
may appear normal in the fall.  Nonetheless these old summer bees don't
live forever, and by January, the hive will start to dwindle due to simple
old age of the majority of the bees.  Chances are the hive will not last
until spring, and the symptoms are not a lot different from some mite
losses: small remaining clusters or hives dead with no bees left in them.
 
I suspect plugging is a major cause of beginners' losses, since beginners
find it very hard to believe how fast a five story hive with no
competition can plug up and beginners often are short of equipment or
trying to draw foundation.  Moreover beginners often have no replacement
supers or maybe no extractor.  Since the plugging can happen in days and
has a lasting effect if not repaired within days, such hives are doomed by
their apparent prosperity.
 
FWIW, drawing large amounts of foundation puts storage pressure on the
brood chamber and plugging is a constant problem in comb production.  If
the comb supers are not removed before the end of warm weather and if the
brood area is not loosened up in time for the queen to lay a good
wintering population of fat young bees, the outlook for strong live hives
the next spring is reduced.
 
What can we do?  The first thing is not to scrimp on buying supers.  One
extra empty super per hive is a valuable investment.  Keep it on the hive
in the early summer, not in your garage.  Second, check hives by
raising the lid weekly at the very least and plan to start extracting as
soon as the hive is 3/4 full.  Third, be sure if a hive has become plugged
that a super or empty combs is placed over the brood chamber as soon as
practicable.  The bees will quickly move honey into it to make room for
the queen to lay in the nest.  In nucs -- which are especially vulnerable
to plugging due to the limited space -- pull combs of honey often enough
to ensure there is always one empty comb on the side.
 
For intermediate to advanced beekeepers only: Try 'loosening up' the
brood chamber in late spring or early summer:  *If you know what you are
doing* and have time, insert a good brood comb or two or sheet of
foundation into the centre of the brood area.  This will allow the queen
to lay to the max.  Don't do it if frost is likely.
 
I realise there is more to say on this, but this is a start.  Hope it
helps.
 
Allen
 
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