Hi, We are in Virginia and have a deep, a medium, and just put the flow frames on a month ago. Bees are taking to it but I can see it is going to be a long task.
The medium is loaded w capped honey. We took little honey last year so they would have resources for winter. Will they uncap the honey and move it up? Should we take some frames? We want to make sure the queen has room to lay, also. Will taking a few frames impede flow frame production? Some people take the entire super off, I understand, but we are again thinking we should leave some for winter. Thanks
I move full supers such as your medium above the empty super (under supering). They’re more likely to work it when it’s the closest option. Keep an eye on the nectar flow. During periods of dearth, they’ll consume stores and an empty super becomes a burden. If there’s a good flow on, the Flow super can fill fast.
As for the queen”s space to lay, even in peak season with wall to wall brood in 8F single, my queens haven’t run short. By the time she’s reached the last frame, the first ones are emerging freeing up more space. The biggest risk comes from brood frames being backfilled with nectar, in which case you have choices. Extract and return the stickies, replace with foundation, store in the freezer, move them up to the Flow super or put them in an empty box above the inner cover with the hole open so they “rob” them. If they’re getting old and dark, it may be a good time to trash them and start fresh, but only during a nectar flow.
Mike
This is exactly what I do, based on Dawn’s advice years ago! The added bonus is that this configuration helps with air circulation and this faster capping in the Fsuper in my humid summers. Most of the time, I have a full Fsuper to harvest from and an intact medium to put on for winter after it’s time to take the FS off.
To answer your first question: Yes the bees can uncap the honey and move it up, if they choose to. As long as we have frames available for the queen to lay eggs in, we never have to worry about the presence of honey robbing the queen of somewhere to lay. If the bees want the queen to lay more eggs, they’ll simply remove that honey & either use it or store it somewhere else (provided there is somewhere in the hive to store it) .
Remember that the queen is not in charge, it’s the colony, or “the hive’s mind”. The hive’s mind is tuned in to the weather, the time of season & what’s coming into the hive.
