How many northern beekeepers squeeze down their hive by harvesting all the honey the bees currently have. I have hives in Milwaukee, can you explain to me what you do?
I only take honey from the supers, never from the brood boxes. If you want your bees to live through the winter, you need to leave them plenty of honey stores in the brood boxes in order to survive.
I think the question may be for hives that are not wintered, I wondered the same with so many near me that order new bees every year. Does the hive do well with just one brood box or are two still needed to get a healthy number of bees in the hive for the main part of the season.
So your intent is for them to starve? At $100 a package I don't see how you come out on that deal...
Michael. What I plan on doing is keeping the brood box and two honey supers on top, a total of three boxes, as well as being wrapped, is this enough of a food supply? The weather in Wisconsin has been all over the board the past few years, flip a coin to see if it Will be mild or cold. I would prefer a constant cold winter not the up and down stuff, confuses the bees makes for a bad environment inside the hive.
I hear what your saying as far as bees being expensive, I don't like to spend money and have bees for only one season.