Southern Ontario Beekeepers question:

[Ghost]

Howdy folks. North of Cobourg here.

I just checked my bees (last time I checked was mid August) and the third super (all large supers) is almost full. The 2nd super looks very full too. I didn't pull it apart - but it was almost full in August too.

I really didn't expect to harvest any honey this year.
Is everyone else having a good year?

In a week or so I plan on using the Quebec escape and trying then pulling the 2nd and brood apart to make sure that they have enough honey.

I haven't seen my queen since July - but the hive is producing so well I'm not too worried.

looks like I may get a few frames to crush and strain :)

How long can I wait before the bees stop producing? As I'm doing the crush and strain I don't really mind how well it will extract in an extractor.

[Ghost]

I should note this is a June nuc hive.

[BeeMaster2]

Michael Bush says he likes to remove his honey after the first cold snap while the bees are in cluster. Kind of hard To do that here in FL. I would probably have to wait till January or sometimes later and by then they are in built up mode with lots of brood.
Jim

[Nyleve]

I'm near peterborough, so not far from you. Having a great year, actually. It's my 5th season with one hive, and they are producing gangbusters the this summer. I pulled one honey super at the end of July and replaced it with two empties - I expect to get at least one full super when I get around to pulling it off later this month. So different from last year when they didn't produce anything at all until late September. And the year before I got nothing at all - left them everything to get them through winter.

Anyway, I think they should be slowing down about now. I still see bees out on the fall asters, but the goldenrod is done so I wouldn't expect much more. I will be pulling off both honey supers, extracting some and holding back the rest in case they need some frames swapped out in their brood boxes.

Hope the rest of your season goes well. Have fun.