>> "So what I am saying is that the last few pounds are very important to 
>> prevent the bees coming up too soon and having the cluster split or move 
>> to one side and starving in a late cold snap."

> We have two medium supers where the frames are not capped (about 50% of 
> each frames is capped in both boxes) but they are full of nectar and a 
> hive where the foundation is not drawn out in the top box so we are going 
> to give these mediums to the bees this week. These mediums will go under 
> the full brood box and we will pull off the top box with the frames of 
> bare foundation.

Without actually being there, it is hard to say.  Personally, I would not 
worry about the uncapped portions, but your area is likely more humid than 
mine, so it is hard to say, uncapped cells can draw moisture.  Mild upward 
ventilation should help, though.

I also cannot gauge how "full" the mediums are, since "full" means different 
things to different people.  If "full" also means fat, then that is good to 
hear.  Also whether the comb in those boxes is dark or light and whether 
they are packed with pollen will determine how the bees will regard them and 
where they are best used.

The actual one brood box occupied by the bees and the size of the cluster 
are a big factor, too.  If the cluster is big and the box heavy and packed 
with pollen, then you stand a good chance, doing what you plan.  Good bees 
should be able to adjust stores still if there are warm days coming, but 
time is getting very short.  I don't know your climate, but where I am, the 
clock has about run out.

> My question is - this will make the bees start the winter in the bottom, 
> the two mediums, and work up to the top box which is a full deep?

That depends on the factors above.  I can't say whether the bees will stay 
in the standard on top and mine the feed below as they need it, or be able 
to tote some of it up and fill the cells vacated by emerging brood.  If the 
mediums were dark comb with pollen, I'd even strongly consider placing one 
on top, but that is a judgment call I cannot make from here.  If they are 
newly drawn white comb and still thin, I would not.

> Also I am wondering how to get them back into two deep boxes in the 
> spring? Or do I just let them continue on in this set up?

Assuming they survive and the mediums are on the bottom, the bees should 
have moved up by spring and the mediums should be empty.  If you decide to 
put a medium on top, which I would do if the mediums are dark and 
pollen-filled and the current brood box is light, then you add a standard 
under the hive in spring and the bees will fill the medium with spring honey 
and drive the queen down so that you can then remove it and store it again 
for winter feed.  That is an actual management system that has some 
popularity.

> We have more than one light hive. We have 6 other hives that we plan to 
> combine for the winter, the top brood boxes have 5 or 6 frames where the 
> foundation was never touched, package bees and a really bad season. We do 
> not have enough medium boxes to put under them all so my plan is to 
> combine those hives, taking any extra frames that have food and saving 
> them for a rainy day.

If you make up a double or two from them, you won't have much left over.

The most important thing when doing these operations is to arrange things as 
close to the way the bees would do it as you can.  Big brood areas close to 
other big brood areas, smaller ones going out, and honey and pollen on the 
outside combs in the lower box.  Dark combs full of honey and pollen above. 
No empty frames in the top box.

> I do not want to have to find the queens and plan on letting them duke it 
> out, may the best one win. I will put newspaper between boxes when I 
> combine so they have a chance to get friendly before the face to face 
> meeting. There should have a good day next week to get this done. I have a 
> call into our state inspector looking for some guidance and hope to hear 
> from him.

I never use newspaper.  Personally, I feed all the hives in the yard and 
just combine, or if there is a light flow, proceed with no special measures. 
If you do a trial with a frame or so and watch for a while and all is well, 
you can mix and match as you please.  If they show signs of fighting, stop.

A spray bottle of sugar syrup with a little vanilla sprayed on the bees in 
the hives being confined, used on a day when there is no robbing and used 
carefully enough that it does to get all over the outside reportedly can 
help.

I never use that though, BUT I DO USE SMOKE.

The smoker should be dense and cool and burning well.  I use burlap, but 
pine shavings (pet litter) work well if something like grass is placed on 
top to keep them in.  A few surgically placed puffs, used often, will 
confuse the bees a bit and give them a common scent, but should not run or 
scorch them.

When you are done, the bees will need to reorganize, so close the entrances 
down to the point where the risk of opportunistic robbing is prevented.

Early in the season, we just stack the slow hives up, since they have time 
to adjust the brood nest and feed, but this late, I'm thinking you need to 
build the new, larger hives frame by frame using the brood and honey (watch 
for disease) and simply shake or brush the bees off the combs which will go 
to storage.

I would not bother looking for queens either, but if there are obviously bad 
ones judging by the pattern if there is any brood -- spotty, drone layer, 
etc.  I'd either shake those bees twenty feet away and let the workers drift 
back leaving that queen in the grass or find and kill her.

Joe had some good comments, too. 

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