Hi. This is my first winter with my bees. They arrived in November, added the flow super in late December and harvested 3 full frames in mid march. Recent inspection has shown there is still one fully capped frame and 2 partially capped (70-80%) frames in the flow super. I checked the brood box last week and found it looking really healthy (and I found the Queen for the first time!). I have attached some photos for reference. Outside frames near full of honey and the top portion of inner frames also contained capped honey and plenty of brood and larvae. My question is, would I be OK to reduce them to one box for our Gippsland Winter or should I leave the flow super on with approx 3.5 frames of honey??. Average Winter temp 5-15 deg with the odd frost , no snow. Would the honey stored in the brood sustain them for the winter months. My plan is to ensure that next year I run with two brood boxes and this will ensure they have enough stores for winter. Any help much appreciated. Thankyou
Judging by your photos, I would suggest that your brood box contains enough honey for your reducing (which is what bees do as winter approaches, they constrict the brood) colony to survive the winter in that brood box.
I would suggest removing the Flow super over winter. Also I would suggest to manage with a single brood box next season. You can use the extra brood box, with the addition of a roof & bottom board, to manage swarming during the spring.
Hi Marnie,
I agree with Jeff and would take it off for winter. There’s a whole other set of issues with leaving it on over winter. When you harvest the honey from the flow super, I would keep some aside for the bees (from the partially capped frame(s)) and feed back to the bees if they get low on stores. I have experienced the situation where they make it through to early spring and the colony starts to rapidly build. They’re fine until a bad patch in the weather and they can’t keep up with the colony expansion. Their stores then quickly disappear and they need a hand. If they don’t need the extra honey, it’s all yours, or you can save it for your split.