Sorry - edited to rephrase the question...
I'm considering wintering some of my hives as single deeps this year. Has anyone got any experience with this and if so what sort of configuration would you use? ie how many frames of honey etc.
Are you in a very cold area? I've been advised to leave the hive with at least 2/3 of a super of honey (a full super should last 12 months) - hard to do that in 8 frames. Also in our sub tropical area that if the temperature is consistently above 22°C (3-4 days in a row) work the hive as normal taking honey out but leaving the 2/3 as mentioned. Northern Sunshine Coast only has about 3-4 weeks in the teens as far as temp goes. Also depends what is flowering in the area at the time and how much rain you get that washes out the nectar. The old guy that ran the course I've done was very big on knowing your biology and plant identification. Get to know the plants/trees in your area to find out what resources the bees have during winter. Use winter mats on top of the brood frames to keep the heat in (vinyl sheet cut 1½ frames short all round and under the excluder if you have one)
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If you are going to do splits in August don't you want to maintain or build numbers beforehand? you'll need strong hives to split.
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In the south, over here, there are some that winter in a 10 frame deep with one or two shallow supers for a full size colony.
Joe
Quote from: Joe D on March 17, 2014, 11:55:46 AM
In the south, over here, there are some that winter in a 10 frame deep with one or two shallow supers for a full size colony.
Joe
Remember the further south you go in Australia the colder it gets in the winter time you need to be the north have warm weather in the winter time ;)
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)