Honey super placement

[asprince]

When leaving honey supers on the hive over the winter, where should they be placed..... over, under, or between the brood boxes? I got conflicting recommendations from my mentors.

Steve

[Rodni73]

On top I think!


-Rodni

[TwT]

since bee's tend to move up in winter I would say above brood nest as long as the supers are full  ;) . store the empty's.

[MustbeeNuts]

would you leave a half a super full of honey on top as well, or move them around?

[asprince]

TwT, since our winters are mild, do the bees cluster much?

Steve

[TwT]

TwT, since our winters are mild, do the bees cluster much?

Steve

yes they do, we still have some cold times for bee's but our winters just dont drop below zero and ours are short compared to up north but they still cluster on them days from about 40 degree's and lower. one guy I know above Macon said he had about 100 hives last year with 3 supers of cotton honey eat almost all of it last year, they tend to eat more on them warm winters like we been having, we are dew for a cold one sometime soon. been a few years since we had a good snow. best to be ready and have hives feed good. thats something I havent done yet ths year but got ever thing ready to feed now. 

[BjornBee]

I was going to ask if the supers are full or not. I assume they are empty and you just want to store them.

I personally do not like empty boxes/comb above the brood chamber. The bees naturally move up, so by late winter early spring, if prepared properly, the bees are at a location to take advantage of dead air space and trapped heat. This is vital for maximizing brood rearing in colder weather.

So I store them off the hive and this is not a problem being in the north after the first cold spell. I do not know if other considerations need to be taken due to SHB down south in warmer climates.

One thing for beekeepers to consider in bad SHB places, is keeping your supers without any brood being raised in them. SHB and wax moths, almost will never seek out clean comb that only has had honey in them, extracted and then cleaned by the bees.

[asprince]

The honey supers are full or partially filled. I store the empty ones.

Steve

[BjornBee]

The honey supers are full or partially filled. I store the empty ones.

Steve

Full ones on top.

Partial ones get placed out away from the hives and allow the bees to rob out. They will pack it down below in the brood chamber.  Of course this matters to how many hives you have, etc. Or, use them to augment and feed lighter hives.