Brood Box full of stores

[whynothot]

I overwintered my national hive on two brood boxes, and have been feeding fondant until a week ago.

I expected the bees to have moved up into the top box, to allow me to remove the bottom brood box. However, when I inspected them yesterday, the top brood box is completely full of stores (almost too heavy to lift), and they have started building additional comb inside the fondant container above the crown board. The brood itself seems to be doing ok in the lower brood box, eggs, larva etc.

What do I do about the top brood box full of stores? Just not sure what to do next. Do I need to put a super on?

 

[BigAshW]

If you were to put the stores below the brood with a QE between them and a super on top would they not move the stores up to the super above the brood?

 

[YorkshireBees]

If you were to put the stores below the brood with a QE between them and a super on top would they not move the stores up to the super above the brood?

Assuming the stores are not honey collected last year and contain at least some Autumn feed you do not really want them to move any of it to a super really!

What I personally would do is replace some of the full stores frames with drawn comb so the queen has space to lay.

If you want to reduce down to a single box then, depending on how many frames of brood they have, you will have to swap frames between the two boxes and re-arrange the colony into one BB.

As long as there is enough space to lay and some stores they will be fine in one brood box. Then you could put a super on.

As you say that the brood is in the bottom brood box then it may be simply a case of lifting off the top BB and then swapping a couple of frames of stores into the bottom BB if there are none present.

 

[BigAshW]

Assuming the stores are not honey collected last year and contain at least some Autumn feed you do not really want them to move any of it to a super really!

Good point didn't think of that.

Just to satisfy my naive curiosity would the bees have moved the stores up to the super?

Also if equipment and storage space was available would it be possible in this situation to get the girls to move the stores up into a super then freeze the frames for next winter, thus giving a cleared BB of drawn comb and some frames of store that could go on for next winter?

 

[drstitson]

a FULL double brood does not need assistance of fondant to overwinter.

 

[enrico]

If you bruised the stores they may move it up ash, but personally I would reduce to one bb, keep all the frames with brood, food on the outside, store the rest for next autumn. And as per Stitson don't feed on double brood, you shouldn't even have to feed on single if it was stuffed with stores in autumn!
E

 

[Finman]

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Only way is to take extra frames and extra room off. That is common operation in spring. And give to those which have not enough.

Varroa may reduce the size of winter cluster so small that you just have too much food frames after winter.

I have couple of douple brood hives where varroa killed all bees during Autumn. So I have 2 boxes stores.

I can give frames for example to artificial swarms when they draw foundations.

 

[Arfermo]

a FULL double brood does not need assistance of fondant to overwinter.

Precisely. Fondant around Xmas okay but not at this time of year. Light syrup maybe? Suggest you remove a couple of full frames of stores for later use in another hive or nuc? Always handy in an emergency.

 

[drstitson]

"Fondant around Xmas okay"

not on double brood that were fully fed in autumn.

a full 14x12 can be left alone to own devices so double brood even more so.

 

[susbees]

Back to first principles: how much brood in the bottom box? How much food in the bottom box?

Look to take off the top box and store sealed frames bee-tight somewhere until needed. Assume these are sugar-stores rather than honey?

Leave bottom box with a good comb of stores either side for now. How much brood was there, say, last June/July?