David,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread.  I checked the upper
one of the two deeps in which this colony was wintering.  It was chock
full o' nice honey from a good summer flow.  The bees had apparently
eaten about a third of the middle and upper portions of about five of the
middle frames.  Then they moved  up through the slot in the intervening
inner cover into the two extracted shallow supers.  I suppose this is an
example of a set up to which the bee has not evolved a proper response.
We bumbling beekeepers excell at creating such set ups.
Bill Morrison
 
On Wed, 5 Mar 1997, David Eyre wrote:
 
> On  4 Mar 97 at 11:26, William J. Morrison wrote: Starvation amidst plenty
>
> > Never store empty supers above a slotted inner cover.  That's what I did
> > and the result was the starvation of a nice colony of bees.  There was
> > plenty of honey in two deep hive bodies below, but during the late winter
> > they moved up into the two shallow supers that I had put on to be cleaned up.
> > The probable reason for the movement of the cluster upward through the slot
> > (size = approx. 4 cm X 12 cm) into the empties was probably the fact that
> > is was warmer there on a sunny winter day. The lesson is that cluster and
> > honey stores must not be separated in cold weather.
>
> While I don't argue with the lesson, stated in the last line, I might
> question the cause of the starvation.
>         If the cluster, (possibly not fed in the fall) started off too high in
> the brood chambers. Then during the course of the winter the bees can only
> go upwards looking for stores, of course, if there is no stores above then
> starvation results.
>         I have seen hives, dead, up against the inner cover with lots of stores
> below and off to one side.
>         My thoughts are that lots of fall feed drives the cluster down creating
> the ideal cluster position. Low down in the bottom box, with lots of
> stores above.
>         Comments!
>
>
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