# Wintertime preparation, Missouri, USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Wintering your Flow Hive\ **Created:** [April 14, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809 "2017-04-14T14:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JPI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JPI](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JPI)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809/23 "2017-09-18T01:00:54Z")
Coming into fall, the bees are still working the flow hive. I open the end door where the honey is extracted and can see them working inside the cells on all of the frames. Does it tend to smash the bees working inside the cells if I harvest what honey there is on the frame before they fill it completely? I was thinking if the frames were not full and it is time to winterize and pull the flow super, that I was going to have to pull the flow frames from the honey super box individually, get the bees off of the flow frame and back into the hive. And then harvest the flow frame. Thanks, Jim ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 8:12am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809/24 "2017-09-18T08:12:42Z")
We used a bee escape below the super, then pulled it off and did the last harvest inside. However, next time I think I would harvest it on the hive, then pull the super off, leave it on its side until near sundown, then brush off any remaining bees and prepare the frames for storage. ---
**Author:** ![JPI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JPI](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JPI)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809/25 "2017-09-18T12:25:40Z")
Thanks Dawn, My first year and hive and got a late spring start with a nuc, so the flow frames are only about 1/5 full. So if you harvest it on the hive with bees still working in the cells, wouldn’t it tend to smash the bees when the cells split, therefore killing a bunch of bees and defiling the honey? Or is it engineered so this wont happen on a partial frame harvest? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809/26 "2017-09-18T12:38:29Z")
@Cedar says the frames are designed not to trap bees when the mechanism is activated. Some people have had varying results, which probably reflects different sizes of bees. I haven’t had any issues with trapped bees myself, and I did inspect after a harvest in the hive. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![BeePeeker](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/beepeeker/32/30512_2.png) [@BeePeeker](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/BeePeeker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809/27 "2017-09-18T15:08:02Z")
@Dawn_SD [Bees trapped when repositioning comb after tapping-anyone else ever experience this?](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/bees-trapped-when-repositioning-comb-after-tapping-anyone-else-ever-experience-this/12683) This happened just yesterday to us; and I started a new thread. Thanks! [Previous page](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/wintertime-preparation-missouri-usa/10809.md?page=1)