< I find how to overwinter small colony with about 3 - 4 thous. bees and <a queen. For this purposse special hive is used and the common shallow <frame equippment < I am convinced that the special arrangment could be applied also using the <normal Langstroth measure. This would allow succesful wintering about two <pound packages on only 6 frames. <Could you spend a few of your time and let me know if the possibility of keeping small <units through winter (and all active season as well) could have any sense <for large scale beekeepers? The practice of overwintering small colonies is, I think, gaining in popularity here in Canada among commercial beekeepers. I know some beekeepers doing it in Alberta, in Ontario and in Nova Scotia. I am personnally experimenting with this technique for the third year now. Two small colonies are currently wintered in a divided standard Langstroth super. The small colony is established between mid-July and the first week of August with 2 frames of brood and a laying queen. Some do it with a cell. By mid-September the 5 frames are densely covered with with bees. The small colonies are fed for winter at that time. One feeder set on a queen excluder feeds the two nucs at the same time. I know a beekeeper who is starting such small nucs in early July. Each pair of nucs gives him a full super of fall honey (in good years). The honey super is also set on a queen excluder to prevent both queens from meeting. Many times and I think most of the time, these pairs of nucs are wintered on top of a normal colony (in a full size hive). This applies as well for outdoor wintering as for indoor wintering. I use special a special model of bottom board that acts as a cover for the normal colony. I find the results are quite satisfactory. A high percentage of these colonies are alive the next spring, but their strenght is quite variable. Most of them develop well and can be used for honey production or sold as nucs in May. Some are too weak to develop normally but they can be united with queenless colonies. There is always a use for some queens in the spring. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''' ' JEAN-PIERRE CHAPLEAU eleveur de reines/bee breeder ' ' Chapleau & Courtemanche enr. ' ' 1282, rang 8, St-Adrien, Quebec, Canada, J0A 1C0 ' ' [log in to unmask] tel./phone (819) 828-3396 ' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''