I received this by email - which I appreciate, but am answering this
to the list because I think it is of general interest. I also hope
Andy (or one of the others)will jump in because it is his home turf.
> I live about 15 miles south of San Francisco, CA. It has been a dryer winter
> so far with only maybe 2 days of rain. Temp. @ about 60 degrees F.
>
> I took about 180lbs of honey off the hives last summer in two different
> extractions. I left 2 medium supers over 2 Brood chambers (BCs) on one hive
> and one medium super on, over 2 BCs on the other 2 hives. The one hive with
> the 2 honey supers had partialy filled and capped frames as did the other
> single supers on the other 2 hives. The BCs in all hives had lots of honey in
> the outer frames in both the top and bottom BCs with brood area in the centers
> of each central BC frame in both upper and lower BCs.
>
> I thought I would leave the hives with 2 BCs and one med. super on over the
> winter. (I was told I really do not need to leave any honey supers on over
> the winter around here as the bees fly all year round except in the rain). I
> did not want to starve them. I was hopeing the upper supers would be filled
> and capped if I left them on for a few weeks or months. This has not
> happeded. To my surprise, The bees have moved down into the lower BC in all
> hives and filled and capped every frame in the upper BC and left the suppers
> above alone.
Possibly your supers are white comb. Bees prefer to overwinter in
darker combs that they have used for brood before. They also prefer
deeper frames.
> Here is my problem. Should I extract the honey in the upper BC in all 3 hives
> and leave the partially filled and capped frames of the honey supers for them
> over the winter?
No, I wouln't. Never (almost never) extract brood chambers.
Everything in the bottom two boxes is theirs. Everything above is
yours. Trust them to decide how much to give you. Sometimes you
might have to remove a few combs to 'loosen them up', but save them
and put them in again later.
There are several reasons for this: One is it keeps you from getting
greedy. Two is that the brood honey is the most likely to have
drugs, sugar syrup, etc. Three is that it just works.
And above all it conforms with the KISS formula. I've sure had less
problems since an oldtimer put it to me that way.
> If i do not remove the honey in the upper BCs will the hives swarm at first
> honey flow? (The eucalyptus is currently starting to bloom here).
Not if there are (more or less empty) supers on and you have young
queens from good stock. At least they shouldn't. Some years nothing
will stop them.
> Will the bees eat the honey out of the upper BCs as they need the room to
> expand as the season progresses?
Usually they will - and move some up to the supers if necessary.
However some strains of bees do it better than others and you *may*
have to loosen them up by temporarily replacing a few frames with empties.
> I am sure I have way more honey on the hives than is nessecary but I do not
> know which honey I should bother with taking off or leaving on.
Leaving too much honey on is usually not a problem. Usually people
do the opposite. Any honey in the supers is yours. Extract it if
you like, but don't leave full supers on when a flow is expected.
Partially full supers may be okay - if you don't mind mixing floral
sources in your honey.
Empty combs near the brood nest stimulate foraging - which is good
for the bees and good for you and good for you fruit growing
neighbors.
> My limited common sence tells me to extract the upper BCs and leave the
> mediums on for the winter. I am also a little hesitant about going in to the
> hives with the cooler temps and leaving them open for a long time as I go
> through frame to make sure the queen is not being disturbed.
That's a good reason to leave the brood chambers alone.
I'd take the supers away and leave them in doubles when there is no
bloom. This a standard practice in your area, as far as I have
seen, and they are not burdened by excess room in the hive. All this
is assuming that they are not too crowded by doing so. The hives
I've seen in your area fit nicely into a double with room to spare at
this time of year.
However if a bloom is starting, get a super or two on and watch them
often - every few days - for signs of needing space such as whitening
of combs, hanging out, burr comb, and give them a super at a time
after that.
Seems you've done nicely so far.
Regards
Allen
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:[log in to unmask]
Honey. Bees, Art, & Futures <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka>
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