How does one winter a hive made of three meduium boxes?
 
I prefer to winter in three medium boxes, with at least 60 lb of honey stored
for the winter.  Towards the end of March, the bees are completly out of the
lowest box.  This box is then removed, detail inspected, and cleaned, then
replaced on top of the colony to make my first reverse.  A box of fresh drawn
comb can be used to rotate the hive's comb, in which case the old bottom
box's comb is scraped off and melted down.   Since I use plastic foundation,
the cleaned old bottom box now becomes a super of undrawn foundation waiting
for the honey flow.
 
Occasionally, I will winter a colony with 4 medium boxes, expecially if the
top box is not quite fully capped or was gathered when I had Apistan strips
in the colony.
 
I normally make hive inspections during January warm spells, and adjust
things as needed at that time.
 
As for supering and splits, they are done much the same as if I was running
deeps + mediums.  The main exception is that when I make a spring split from
Illinois frames, I use 4 frames instead of the three customarily used from
deeps.  These Illinois splits enjoy an excellent market from local
beekeepers.
 
Before readers do likewise, please compare my Washington, DC location to your
own.
 
W. G. Miller
Gaithersburg, MD