How much to leave

Potlicker1 · August 16, 2007, 11:08:18 PM

Can someone tell me how much honey should be left on for overwintering? I'm in the upper midwest and it gets cold. If I take some from the outer brood chamber will they have time to refill in the fall? Any help is appreciated.

TwT · August 16, 2007, 11:46:21 PM

you will need someone from your area to advise you on that, like me in the south wouldn't know what to tell you in wisconsin

Zoot · August 17, 2007, 12:01:44 AM

Finsky who lives in Finland (very cold, long winters) always advocated taking all the honey you could by the end of the summer and feeding sugar in the early fall to provide for winter stores. I experimented last year and did 2 things: left almost a full medium of honey on 2 hives and on the third, harvested all of it's honey in August then feed a gallon or so of syrup which they stored. All 3 three hives wintered beautifully.

Michael Bush · August 17, 2007, 07:15:30 AM

People usually try to have 100 pounds or so in the North.

bassman1977 · August 17, 2007, 09:36:45 AM

For a well established hive, I leave them with what they can store in the brood boxes (typically 2 or 3 mediums). I'll feed for a week or two also but for the most part, it's all golden rod.

randydrivesabus · August 17, 2007, 10:41:37 AM

i feel like this has been discussed before (and i've read it before) but does someone know how much honey in pounds a deep frame holds and also a medium frame? i'm thinking average here. i can go do the tilt test and say 'man thats heavy' but my heavy and your heavy may not be the same.
also, its not only how much honey is in the hive but where in the hive it is that counts. so if like me you've got 2 deeps for brood chambers and then mediums for honey sitting above theres no practical way to get that honey down in the brood area. this is a good argument for having all the same size boxes.

Potlicker1 · August 17, 2007, 11:53:50 AM

In reference to Zoots comment, I guess I've been under the interpretation that suger water isn't as nutrient rich as their own honey, and not prefered for overwintering. I'd like to harvest some of it but I'm alittle reserved. These are first year nuc colonys and I really want them to succeed more than I want the honey in their brood chamber. With that said, I also would like it if it didn't pose a problem. Just more food for thought.

ronbert · August 17, 2007, 12:08:09 PM

RANDYDRIVEBUSABUS

A rule of thumb is a full deep will weigh 100 lbs, a medium 60 lbs, and a small 45 lbs.

ron

imabkpr · August 17, 2007, 12:53:49 PM

A 9 frame deep super will have 55 to 60 pounds of honey in it.
A 9 frame medium super will have 37 to 40 pounds of honey in it.
A shallow super will have 27 to 30 pounds of honey in it.

The above is extracted pounds. The bees will get a little more as they will clean the cells better than the beekeeper can. Charlie

Zoot · August 17, 2007, 01:50:08 PM

I don't think there's any question that honey is the optimal winter food. I was just curious to see the comparative results from wintering hives with both feeding methods. Generally speaking, I try to avoid feeding syrup for any reason now other than extreme necessity.

Potlicker1 · August 17, 2007, 05:00:13 PM

Not trying to acuse you of anything Zoot. Just want to make the right call.I'd love nothing more than to harvest as much honey as I could.

Zoot · August 17, 2007, 06:13:42 PM

No problem..I may have contradicted myself there. Feeding syrup is certainly an acceptable option on a number of ocasions throughout the season including building up winter stores. I'm simply in a "minimilist" phase with my bees this season - tampering with them as little as possible while obviously staying atuned to their needs. I read some works by Rudolph Steiner (Waldorf school founder) from the 20's this year in which he criticized syrup feeding so I'm just experimenting without it for a while.

Brian D. Bray · August 17, 2007, 10:11:12 PM

Zoot,
You're starting to sound like me. Good show!

Potlicker1 · August 17, 2007, 10:33:19 PM

So is it settled then that it is best to leave the honey alone in the brood chamber for overwintering?

shakerbeeman · August 17, 2007, 10:41:24 PM

I would subscribe to the minimalistic approach however feel feeding is necessary sometimes as in the case of a late swarm that needs buildup.

Zoot · August 18, 2007, 12:55:11 AM

Absolutely. And yes, I would opt for honey over syrup for winter build up as long as you have it and don't have a compelling reason for harvesting it. Especially in a year like this with weird weather and unexplained maladies cropping up.

Speaking of which, we've had a bountiful honey crop here but from atypical sources; usually tulip polar is our biggest producer yet everyone I've spoken with now swears we haven't had tulip polar honey for several seasons despite years like this where the conditions were perfect in May/June. I'd be curious to hear from some of the other Maryland members here on that. What we all seem to have is a delicate, almost clear honey that came primarily from honey locust. It's going to be interesting to see what blooms now as this very dry summer winds down.