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New Zealand Beekeeping Forums
NZ Beginner Beekeepers
Do I extract or leave for winter feed?
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<blockquote data-quote="tommy dave" data-source="post: 9602" data-attributes="member: 25"><p>i'm going to throw some general answers at this rather than asking the clarifying questions that would help, as a quick skim through the answers above suggests that most things have been addressed - hopefully of some use.</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">a single 3/4 brood box is not enough and will result in swarm control difficulty in spring unless the hive is either a weak new split or is unhealthy - best to be able to prevent swarming without needing to split the hive. The ability to do this comes over time, but basically comes down to timing of appropriate space in the right parts of the hive.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">2x3/4 boxes is a good brood area idea, and nothing wrong with running three boxes below an excluder either.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">how much honey a hive needs through winter is largely dependent on whether there is an ongoing trickle of a flow through that season, and correspondingly whether the queen basically stops laying (so fewer food resources required as not feeding developing larvae) or not. Related to this, spring is when the starvation risk is greatest, as the hive is building up in numbers and chewing through stores to do this if the incoming flow stalls either due to weather or due to the floral mix and season in your vicinity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">a box of honey left on is a good idea. Make sure there isn't an excluder in the way though, otherwise you can end up with a rare situation where the winter cluster has to choose between being next to food stores above the excluder, or next to the queen - they won't abandon the queen, and this can result in starving even with food on the hive.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">without more detail I'd do the following: overwinter as three 3/4 boxes (basically nine quarters, so largely the same as overwintering as eight quarters = two full depth boxes, which is very common). Put the box of wets back on, assuming that means extracted frames with the comb still intact, and put it in position two, between the boxes currently on the hive. That will address current available brood volume risk while giving space if flow is still coming in, which is still the case in at least some areas.</li> </ol></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tommy dave, post: 9602, member: 25"] i'm going to throw some general answers at this rather than asking the clarifying questions that would help, as a quick skim through the answers above suggests that most things have been addressed - hopefully of some use. [LIST=1] [*]a single 3/4 brood box is not enough and will result in swarm control difficulty in spring unless the hive is either a weak new split or is unhealthy - best to be able to prevent swarming without needing to split the hive. The ability to do this comes over time, but basically comes down to timing of appropriate space in the right parts of the hive. [*]2x3/4 boxes is a good brood area idea, and nothing wrong with running three boxes below an excluder either. [*]how much honey a hive needs through winter is largely dependent on whether there is an ongoing trickle of a flow through that season, and correspondingly whether the queen basically stops laying (so fewer food resources required as not feeding developing larvae) or not. Related to this, spring is when the starvation risk is greatest, as the hive is building up in numbers and chewing through stores to do this if the incoming flow stalls either due to weather or due to the floral mix and season in your vicinity [*]a box of honey left on is a good idea. Make sure there isn't an excluder in the way though, otherwise you can end up with a rare situation where the winter cluster has to choose between being next to food stores above the excluder, or next to the queen - they won't abandon the queen, and this can result in starving even with food on the hive. [*]without more detail I'd do the following: overwinter as three 3/4 boxes (basically nine quarters, so largely the same as overwintering as eight quarters = two full depth boxes, which is very common). Put the box of wets back on, assuming that means extracted frames with the comb still intact, and put it in position two, between the boxes currently on the hive. That will address current available brood volume risk while giving space if flow is still coming in, which is still the case in at least some areas. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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Do I extract or leave for winter feed?
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