To pack down or not to pack down...that is the question!

Hi! Am new to beekeeping. Got my Nuc in December and the hive is going great guns. Brood box filled quickly so I added the super box with the flow frames. Bees went up there quickly and started to build comb depositing nectar and of the 7 frames we have capped honey in at least one in the middle of the box. The weather is now cooling and I’m afraid that it is going to be too hard for the bees to keep both boxes warm through winter. Should I harvest the small amount of honey in the super and remove it so the bees only have the brood box to look after over winter or should I leave the super on? The hive is in a beautiful part of South Gippsland where is does get quite cold over winter. There is a lot of flowering plants in my garden so I confident that they have some good food sources very close by but I will be prepared to also feed them a sugar syrup if need be. Any advice would be SO welcomed! Cath

Hi Cath, welcome to the forum! It sounds like taking off the super may be a good idea. If there will be a dearth and temps are near or at freezing for an extended period, the super will be superfluous :wink: Sorry couldn’t resist! But seriously, as temps drop the bees will start propolizing the Fframes up to reduce drafts. If temps are low enough to make the bees cluster to keep warm, and they have to move as a group to reach stores in the Fsuper, the queen won’t be able to pass through the excluder and could die. If you just take off the excluder, you’ll most likely open the hive in early spring to find brood rearing going on up there.

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