Brood and a half method

[Der Alte Fritz]

A 14 x 12 may be big enough for an average brood but I would still want to over winter with an extra honey super as I am convinced that it is not that big

What!?

With a full box, I am usually needing to remove frames of stores in the spring for colony build-up.

Do you actually know how much stores there will be in a full 14 x 12 and a full shallow, compared with the amount of stores a colony needs for over-wintering. Work it out, I would suggest, before following this route.

Better to fit a super and get a bigger harvest for the year.

RAB

Well I see what you are saying. My thinking behind my approach is that the amount of stores needed for the colony to survive the winter is quite small. But they have a huge demand for stores at the start of the Spring when the population is small with only a handful of rather old foragers and a growing brood. If they have plenty of stores, the population grows fast and they get through bad weather like we had this year and you are ahead for the start of the summer. If we get a good spring, I might be able to harvest a few frames from the spare super come the first inspection. Also an 'extra' amount of stores means that colonies are less likely to get wedged in a corner and starve.

 

[oliver90owner]

My thinking behind my approach is that the amount of stores needed for the colony to survive the winter is quite small.

Correct.

So why leave them with a spare 20kg?

If we get a good spring, I might be able to harvest a few frames from the spare super

Correct again - the super is 'spare'.

I would add a small amount of feed if it were necesary, but rarely has it been required, if ever.

Most likely take their colonies through the winter on a single deep and if we then include deep broods with a super and 14 x 12, that likely covers the vast majority of beekeepers. Yet a further amount is crazy, IMO.

Anyone else out there do this 'crazy' feeding stunt? I doubt there are many positive responses.

Yes, I have overwintered with a super left on - but not as a hedge against running out of stores!