# Overwintering with a Flowhive for Stores **URL:** \ **Category:** Flow Hive\ **Created:** [June 24, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460 "2015-06-24T14:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sara](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/sara/32/696_2.png) [@sara](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/sara)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/1 "2015-06-24T14:31:49Z")
Continuing the discussion from [Using the flow hive in cold climate or freezing conditions](http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/using-the-flow-hive-in-cold-climate-or-freezing-conditions/1261/8): > [@Using the flow hive in cold climate or freezing conditions](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/using-the-flow-hive-in-cold-climate-or-freezing-conditions/1261/8): > > ok, lets pretend autumn is on us, you have your bee colony and the brood box is full of brood,stores,some honey, you have an extra plain super that you want to leave on for the bees to “over winter” on, as already suggested, place that super under the brood box, now on top of your brood box, you will have the crown board, (it was on top of that super that is now down below) the crown board normally has one or two holes in it, that’s for adding feeders,now place your super with the flow frames on top of that crown board and put the lid on the very top, now the worker bees see anything above the crown board as outside of the hive, so they will clean out the flow super and take honey back down into the brood box, normally they would clear any leftovers within a week so dont leave that super on too long, remove it and keep indoors till spring I have had this very topic on my mind! Avoiding the use of the flow for anything other than honey stores is the general goal. Any ideas on how to manage using the flow super as the overwinter extra super of stores? Without winding up with activity in the spring that results in brood in the flow? I have a bunch of thought floating thru my brain, but they have not sorted themselves out coherently yet. In no particular order; - The brood box will be foundationless, so the bees will (hopefully) use the frames there for their bee business because the cell size will suit them better. - The queen excluder could be removed for the winter to avoid the ‘lost queen’ syndrome. Replace it in the spring. - Going without an excluder at all and seeing what the bees choose to do. - Leaving the flowframes in might just be a bad all round idea, resulting in springtime issues surrounding pollen, brood and a resident queen in the flow super. Arrgh. Only time will tell to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![Horsehillhoney](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/horsehillhoney/32/1078_2.png) [@Horsehillhoney](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Horsehillhoney)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/2 "2015-06-24T15:18:29Z")
Bear in mind that bees will move up…for instance if your brood is in double brood boxes…in the spring …they will be in the top one. It does depend somewhat on your climate…in some places bees can forage all year round and don’t have to huddle in winter conditions…so a Flow could stay on…here in the UK…you couldn’t do that. If you did…by the time the weather improved sufficiently to be able to open the hive and inspect it…the brood would be up in the Flow. If you used a queen excluder…she could be left behind and die. ---
**Author:** ![Dee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dee/32/5840_2.png) [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/3 "2015-06-24T18:53:51Z")
The flow hive is designed for a Langstroth…yes? Surely a Lang is big enough to contain enough stores in the brood box? I run 14x12s or Deep Nationals and never leave supers of stores. Too much food and you have to take brood frames away in the spring and you’re in bother if you don’t have drawn empty brood frames. ---
**Author:** ![Horsehillhoney](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/horsehillhoney/32/1078_2.png) [@Horsehillhoney](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Horsehillhoney)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/4 "2015-06-24T19:36:25Z")
I guess if you reach the end of the nectar season…and are left with unripe nectar in the Flows…then you have a problem. You could drain it…remove the flow and feed back to the bees. It would bulk out their stores. As you say if there is enough nectar for the bees to collect…they will store it in the brood box …and that should be sufficient for the winter. Here in the UK…they are inclined to collect ivy nectar which crystallises…so the Flow must come off before then. ---
**Author:** ![sara](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/sara/32/696_2.png) [@sara](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/sara)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/5 "2015-06-25T20:20:23Z")
We will all have different climates to work in and flora and fauna as well. I am in San Francisco, so I have a mild damp marine climate. Never snows or freezes, but doesn’t get much above 75 except for the occasional heat wave. And I will be using quilts for the dampness. Up in Sacramento we winter over with a brood box and a medium super. No excluder. But there the winters are cold. I don’t know if one brood is enough to get by with in my area. I think I will have to check and see what the local keepers think/do. ---
**Author:** ![Horsehillhoney](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/horsehillhoney/32/1078_2.png) [@Horsehillhoney](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Horsehillhoney)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:24am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/overwintering-with-a-flowhive-for-stores/2460/6 "2015-06-26T07:24:27Z")
The winter preparations will be the same as normal for your area. The main difference will be in climates where the bees continue to forage as the climate is tropical for instance. Then it comes down to types of forage and whether it is suitable for the Flow…as in jelly or crystalising nectars. Sadly, we have a definite winter here in the UK…so the Flow will be removed at the end of the nectar flows and prior to ivy nectar. It depends on the size of the colony as to whether you use one or two brood boxes. As long as there are enough stores. Many people nadir a super of stores in autumn and the bees move those stores into the brood box above. I, personally like the idea that the bees don’t have to cross from one box to another in midwinter. I have used a slab of fondant on the frames to ensure sufficient stores. The main thing is to ensure the bees don’t get isolated from their stores. It seems there are many people who have ordered Flows, who haven’t kept bees before. For those people…there will be lots of learning how to keep their bees…all the husbandry that beekeepers learn. It will be specific for their climate too which is why a good mentor is helpful. There has been lots of advice about doing courses, reading, etc the difference will be in the harvesting of the honey. There will still be some collection of the honey if wax frames are used in conjunction with the Flow. If you haven’t kept bees before then you will soon discover what a wonderfully absorbing hobby it is.