Dave asked:
>Bob, you had a yard with some absconds a couple
weeks ago.  Did you observe the bees still remaining?

Yes but even lower numbers of bees than if the hive had swarmed.. However we 
did not dig into the brood box like we will now.

I have been out of town but returned last night. Today we start removing all
supers from some of the yards and going through hives. Will take awhile but
when done I will report.

This next step is more complicated than simply removing full honey supers or
adding supers to stay ahead of the bees. What we have been doing. Also needs 
completed in a few
weeks. We start with the hives in singles first so we can get those ready
for winter by adding second boxes.

The honey flow in those yards has stopped and we are putting on second boxes
of basically new frames/foundation. We have between 2-3 frames of new drawn
bait comb to get the bees up into the second boxes but placing second boxes
of foundation this time of year and feeding can backfire by the bees simply
plugging the lower brood chamber with honey shutting down the production of
winter bees.
We have to keep an eye on these hives until we see the bees working in the
top box. Feed light at first.

The next phase after the singles is too strip the supers off the double
deeps and prepare those for winter.

Now is the second busiest time for us other than early spring.

bob

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