>In a message dated 96-06-12 15:27:56 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Joel Govostes)
>writes:
>
>>The 20 single story hives which I made up as splits with queen cells are
>>doing well.  Maybe TOO well.  A few of the queens have started laying.  BUT
>>-- the black locust (wonderful) flow has been long and heavy.  So whilst
>>waiting for their queens to emerge and get to work, guess what my little
>>friends have done?  Yup; in many cases almost completely filled the single
>>brood chambers with honey!  So much so that there are precious few cells
>>for the queens to lay in.  It was quite a sight to lift lid after lid and
>>be greeted with rows of bulging, pure white capped combs.
>>
 
        I experienced Joel's problem last year, except my hives were two
        story. We had a mild winter and I was unprepared for a very
        fast build-up and a huge spring flow. I followed instructions
        that I had read about preparations for a strong flow and placed
        queen excluders above the 2nd deep and supers above that. By the
        middle of June I had 6 supers of capped honey from 2 hives.
        After I put the excluders on I did not venture a look into the
        brood chambers. As a moderate summer drought progressed I didn't
        see anything that resembled much of a honey flow. I had replaced
        the filled supers but was disappointed to see that not that much more
        honey was being stored. Then the swarms started. By the end of summer
        I had 7-8 swarms from 2 hives. It finally dawned on me about mid-August
        to check the brood chambers. I was amazed to find that both hives
        had completely filled the 2nd deeps with honey. With strong hives
        confined to one deep, swarming must have been the only choice.
        Further reading seemed to place some of the blame on the excluders,
        so this year I am not using them.
 
        This year has been completely different. A long hard winter and a
        rainy sometimes cold spring maybe makes the difference. Here it
        is mid-June and I have yet to have a single super filled. On most
        good weather days the bees seem to be foraging at an acceptable pace,
        but no surplus as yet.
 
        QUESTION:
 
        I put on an additional deep with new foundation on each hive this
        spring. Would the action of drawing comb on new foundation actually
        slow the rate at which honey is stored?
 
 
Tim Peters, Kirby VT
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KirBee Apiary, Bear Bait Honey
I rather be flying!