Winter Frames

[BBC]

I have pretty much wrapped my bees up ready for winter.
The brood box is looking good and they have stores in one super on top too.
I have another super on top of this for periodic feeding over the coming season.
Is this about right?

 

[Wilco]

Queen excluder out?

Put some insulation in the top super if you can.

 

[Murox]

Have a read of this thread . A well provisioned BS brood box is ordinarily perfectly capable of supporting a colony through winter, and a 14X12 brood box more than adequate.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have another super on top of this for periodic feeding over the coming season.

No need for this. Put some insulation on the crownboard

 

[BBC]

Thank you both.
So remove the additional super and add insulation above the crown board right?
What will I do with the feed and additional honey I left them in the supers.

 

[Ian123]

If you mean extracted supers put them on to clean up then take off before packing up for winter. If you need to add food later in season you can make space in insulation or add supper then. If your brood plus super is well stocked there’s a good chance there’s enough there already. Your job as a beekeeper though is to monitor through winter.

 

[pargyle]

Thank you both.
So remove the additional super and add insulation above the crown board right?
What will I do with the feed and additional honey I left them in the supers.

What size of hive do you use ? National or 14 x 12 or Langstroth ? I assume they are timber if you are wrapping them ?

If the brood box is well stocked you should not need an extra super of stores on top of the hive but if you have been feeding them the frames will be contaminated with sugar so you can't extract them as honey. You can take it off and store it or leave it on the hive (personally, I'd be inclined to remove it if the brood box is well stocked). You can just store it for future use as feed in the spring if they need it ... there's no problem with giving them a super frame in the brood box in spring if they run short... they are unlikely to build comb on the bottom in early spring unles there is forage about - and even if they do - it's not a problem.

I keep a super full of insulation on the top of all my hives (Celotex or Kingspan) all the year round. You have a choice - you can leave the super full of insulation on top of the crown board - makes it easy to feed them in Spring if you need to - or take it off and (if you have a deep roof) put a slab of Insulation under the roof on top of the crown board.

Make sure there are no holes left uncovered in the crown board.

 

[BBC]

Thank you

 

[BBC]

If you mean extracted supers put them on to clean up then take off before packing up for winter. If you need to add food later in season you can make space in insulation or add supper then. If your brood plus super is well stocked there’s a good chance there’s enough there already. Your job as a beekeeper though is to monitor through winter.

Thanks Ian