Is it normal and/or healthy for the bees to conduct most or all of their bee activity in the upper deep while leaving the lower one empty? I just checked on my hive since winter is basically over here and the upper deep was full of honey, eggs, and brood, but the lower was nearly empty.
I remember Dr. Fell telling our beekeeping meeting that their results in Va. showed that, when you overwintered with your screened bottom boards on the hives, the bees tended to stay up in the second brood chamber till it warmed up. Is that the case with your bees? Hope that helps answer it. -Danno
Bees generally move from down to up in the winter as their cluster moves across the frames eating honey. With this in mind, what you are seeing is totally normal in the spring for the bottom to be empty and the top to be most full. This is why in spring we swap boxes from the top and put them on the bottom.
Okay, thanks, that's interesting. It seems as if the bees are beginning to collect nectar already, as I've seen drops of it on the inner cover. I am also wondering if it is ever too late to add a super. I'm moving in a couple months and though I would like to add a super soon, I don't think I should before I move. Any advice?
I guess I'm not sure what your seeing? If the bottom box is mty, I wouldn't put an mty super on top. I would just reverse if you can do so without breaking up the brood nest. If they are in one box, or 2, and they need room, give it to them. They don't care if your moving or not. If they are crowded, they will go. I would also think that droplets on the inner cover are condensation, not nectar. If you take a frame, hold it horizontally and shake it, and droplets come out, thats nectar. Bees don't waste nectar by letting it sit on the inner cover. I checked all my colonies for stores today. Every one of them is in the top box. Nothing unusual or abnormal about that.
>Is it normal and/or healthy for the bees to conduct most or all of their bee activity in the upper deep while leaving the lower one empty?
Yes. It's normal.
> I just checked on my hive since winter is basically over here and the upper deep was full of honey, eggs, and brood, but the lower was nearly empty.
That's the way mine almost always are.