Got a Flow Hive 2 on the go in late September, the bees have filled or nearly filled the Super frames so I’m doing a single harvest today, the first & leave the rest for winter food, there are tons of bees inside the hive & coming & going, I’m very tempted to put on another brood box so they don’t swarm(if they do that in Autumn) or do I leave as is so the bees can keep the hive warm over winter? This is my first attempt at beekeeping. I have lots to learn so I am all ears on any suggestions, I’m in Mudgee NSW, Thanks
Hello & Welcome to the Forum, coming into Autumn is not the best time to add another box as the colder weather is fast approaching and although there will still be food available for the bees, it will be slowing down. If the girls haven’t already thrown out the Drones, they will do soon and the numbers will adjust. Hope this helps
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Now I have a question, because I will have the same situation. So they do a single harvest and leave the rest for the hive. That means leaving the super on, surely? If the brood box AND super are full of bees, surely the numbers aren’t going to drop fast enough for all the bees to shift down into a single brood box??? And what is one supposed to do with the plastic frames all full of honey? I have read about putting them in the freezer, but now they will no longer readily available for the bees.
Unless your climate and flora allow for foraging during the winter (subtropical or tropical), you should remove the flow super until the nectar flow resumes.
If you have honey in the flow super you can harvest it all before you remove the super and allow the bees to clean it up before removing it and placing in storage.
A couple days in the freezer before wrapping it up in some burlap (“hessian” as @Dawn_SD and other speakers of the queen’s English, I guess king’s English now, would say).
You can feed the bees (sugar) to allow them to stock up their remaining brood box(es) for winter or a prolonged dearth.
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You can also feed them back some of their own honey you’ve taken, plus there’s more than you’d imagine left on the frames as residue for them to clean up after you harvest.
Along with kicking out drones, the numbers adjust down because the bees will reduce brood rearing in anticipation of less forage available. It might seem crowded at first, but as @Saraj said it won’t last long.
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Thanks Eva. I have always wondered about that! Anyway, having controlled a serious varroa mite infestation, and some chalk brood to boot, the hive seems very happy and active as we move into summer. I am looking forward to tasting some of their honey for the first time!
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That’s fantastic, John! Well done 
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