this is a total newbie question, i know, but i can't seem to find an answer.
i have a booming hive, they seem to work tirelessly. i have 2 medium boxes chock full of brood and capped honey, one shallow box full with capped honey, and another shallow box on top of that that they're filling out quickly. i ganked 2 frames from the full box last night and put 2 empty ones in to keep them busy.
now... are both those supers available for me to pilfer honey? or do i need to leave them with honey in those for the winter? i know you need to leave at least 60 lbs of honey for them in the winter, but does that only include the honey in the bottom 2 mediums? in all the books and such, i've never seen a shallow box kept on for the winter. so can i just keep taking honey from those top boxes and replacing it with the empty frames?
thanks for your advice in advance.
i have a booming hive, they seem to work tirelessly. i have 2 medium boxes chock full of brood and capped honey, one shallow box full with capped honey, and another shallow box on top of that that they're filling out quickly. i ganked 2 frames from the full box last night and put 2 empty ones in to keep them busy.
now... are both those supers available for me to pilfer honey? or do i need to leave them with honey in those for the winter? i know you need to leave at least 60 lbs of honey for them in the winter, but does that only include the honey in the bottom 2 mediums? in all the books and such, i've never seen a shallow box kept on for the winter. so can i just keep taking honey from those top boxes and replacing it with the empty frames?
thanks for your advice in advance.