Hive aging honey question

[digdan]

Doing a little thinking and ...

Would it be a better practice to not harvest honey until spring?

That way you know your are taking only surplus, in turn guaranteeing optimal conditions for the colony. What issues would be attached with that practice?

[PCM]

I'm sure you have read that hives need to be reduced in size during the northern winter,so the bees can maintain warmth.

This is a local thing, what size hives do your experienced beekeepers in your area use ?

Also you stand a very good chance of the excess honey crystalizing in the comb.

Good luck in your descison.

Take all advice on inter-net forums with a grain or two of salt !

PCM

[odfrank]

The honey can also absorb moisture and ferment.

[Countryboy]

What issues do bee trees have? The surplus honey is not removed from them in the fall.

The upside is the bees will have plenty of honey to build up on in the spring. Many beekeepers leave an extra box of honey to help the bees build up faster in the spring.

The downside is the bees may build up too fast, and backfill the broodnest early in the season, causing the bees to swarm and you losing your honey crop.

Take all advice on inter-net forums with a grain or two of salt !

I second that motion.

Bees regulate the temperature of the cluster, and not the temp of the whole hive. The physical size of the whole hive isn't of major importance as long as the bees have plenty of honey. (Leaving empty comb can cause problems if the bees move up into empty combs and starve.)

Around here, you will see beekeepers overwintering bees from single deeps to triple deeps. I even have a couple 5 frame nucs going.

It all depends on the floral source as to how fast honey granulates. Canola and sunflower are known for crystalizing fairly quickly, while it is unknown if tupelo will ever crystalize. Most tree honeys are good about being slow to crystalize.

[SwedeBee1970]

Besides old honey, the taste is off key in the spring depending on how much is left over. Best time is always when they're making it fresh, late summer to early fall. Just make sure they've got enough to go through winter.

You could freshen the old honey frames by scraping or puncturing lightly the caps. The bees will automatically de-cap them and replace the old honey and re-cap. Only do this in the spring time.