I would like to know what is common practice for wintering a flow hive in Northland New Zealand.
Do you leave the super on and let the bees eat the remaining honey over winter or should I take it off. Left on only the worker bees would be able to get to the honey. I do not want the queen in the super.
If I take the super off, wont the bees be too crowded in the brood box?
Does the queen keep laying over winter?
How would I put a feeder tray on if I left the super on?
Hello and welcome to the forum.
So many good questions…
This depends on your winter nectar flows - you will have to ask locals if there is a consistent flow over your winter. If there is, you can probably leave the super on all winter, like in many tropical and sub-tropical locations. If you need/decide to remove it, you should harvest it first and make sure that the bees have stored enough in the brood box(es) to make it though winter/dearths.
Not really, but again it depends on your seasons and flow.
Again, depends on your local weather and flows. Even here in Ohio, there is almost always at least a very small amount of brood, except maybe right around the winter solstice.
Don’t feed with the super on - the bees will store sugar in your super.