I live in Mandurah, Western Australia.
I know this is a little early but can somebody let me know the best time to remove the super before winter. I’ll make sure I conduct a brood box inspection before to make sure the storage of honey is adequate. If not, will sugar syrup and bee patties keep them fed enough over winter.
So question is, after removing the super how do I encourage the bees to leave the super frames and return to the hive.
If I leave the super on:
Do I remove the queen excluder?
Will the queen then lay eggs in the super?
How could it then be prepared for spring?
Just like to be well prepared.
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I’ll defer to those in your area about whether the Flow super needs to come off or not, or whether you’d need to feed or if there’ll be any forage out there - but I think of the excluder and the Flow super as going hand-in-hand. I’ve read too many posts here about folks taking off the QE but leaving the Flow super who then find a big mess of brood in the Flow frames at first spring inspection. From what I’ve read here, the cocoons are next to impossible to clean out, but need to be if the frames are to operate properly.
In my area the winter temps can be down in the 20Fs during the day and 10Fs at night at their coldest. Granted, there are some days that are much warmer and my bees will be out and about, but there’s no forage for a solid four months or more. I take my Flow supers and excluders off sometime in late July or August after harvesting for the last time. To clean up as much honey residue as possible I put the super on top of the inner cover, on top of the hive for a day or two - this way it functions like a feeder, and the bees clean it right up.
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That’s excellent advice. Thank you.
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Hey - I’m not too far away in North Yunderup and progressing through my first year of bee keeping. I am undecided about whether I’ll leave or remove the super. My bees are still going strong, so I’m going to give it a few months and see what’s goig on at that point.
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Hi Clare, we should have a coffee and exchange newby beekeepers stories. Perhaps you have figured out how to put the hood back on a bee suit.
I washed mine today after a harvest yesterday, took the hood off and can’t get the wretched thing back on.
Would you like to give me contact details. You can email me at heddyjan@hotmail.com
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Onto it! SOunds great.
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