In a message dated 97-12-22 06:10:59 EST, [log in to unmask] (Walt Barricklow) writes: << I need some help on this one. Last fall I put on an additional deep hive body, to reduce the chance of swarming. It is my understanding that through the winter, bees will move up in the hive. So far winter here is low 40s to 50s in the south. I want to take out one of the deep supers, and thought that the best one would be the bottom, as the bees will mostly bee in the top two deep supers by late January. I do not want to split the hive or requeen, just get the bees ready for spring in two deep supers. I thought early in the morning when temps are lower might work. Ive never tried this before, so any help will be greatly appreciated. >> Walt, I've been moving bees and working bees this past week, with no problems. Generally I move the hives when as cool as possible (early morning), and work inside the hives at midday. Anytime the teperatures are above 50, you don't need to worry about opening a hive, if it is reasonably strong, and you don't leave brood frames exposed to the cold for more than the few seconds it takes to look at them. In sorting out your boxes - a rule of thumb: Never leave empty combs above the bees. Honey above bees is fine (and necessary!), it will hold and store heat, as well as provide food energy as the bees move up. But whenever there are empty boxes above the cluster, you have a lot of wasted heat, which rises into the empty space and is dissapated. This will cause the bees to decline rapidly. For the same reason, hives should not be in a location where they are exposed to strong winds. It usually is not a problem early in the winter, but we normally get a lot of wind in February and March. Their struggle to heat their homes really takes a lot of feed, and they will often decline visibly after just one or two storms. We are trying to get all of our bees back out of the fields and into sheltered locations, but many spots are too wet to be accessible. Empty space can be left below the bees, if you think they are likely to expand quickly in the spring. They do not have to heat this space, so this is not a problem. However mice may easily get into this unoccupied space. Any hive that does not have a good cap of honey over the brood nest right now is being checked for queen problems, then fed. Next month we start feeding everything, whether it seems to need it or not. The feed will be repaid in additional strength in the spring. Our winters are not as severe as northern winters, but they definitely are a factor to contend with, in our management. [log in to unmask] Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm