We went into last Winter like this:
hhBBBBBBBBBBBHHHHHHHH
The little h's represent the two combs near the entrance that are used primarily for honey. We had 11 brood combs and 8 pretty full honey combs in the back. I don't know how much honey was in the brood nest itself, but it must have been a good amount. They only ate 2 combs (the little e's for empty) of honey. We came out of Winter like this: eeeeeeBBBBBBBeeHHHHHH
This Winter, I hope to go into it with at least 5 combs of honey in back. That would be 30+ pounds in my hive. Right now, we're looking like this:
hhBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBbHH_H
The little b is a brood comb that they are backfilling with honey. The gap is where I'm trying to get them to build a nice straight honeycomb.
hhBBBBBBBBBBBHHHHHHHH
The little h's represent the two combs near the entrance that are used primarily for honey. We had 11 brood combs and 8 pretty full honey combs in the back. I don't know how much honey was in the brood nest itself, but it must have been a good amount. They only ate 2 combs (the little e's for empty) of honey. We came out of Winter like this: eeeeeeBBBBBBBeeHHHHHH
This Winter, I hope to go into it with at least 5 combs of honey in back. That would be 30+ pounds in my hive. Right now, we're looking like this:
hhBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBbHH_H
The little b is a brood comb that they are backfilling with honey. The gap is where I'm trying to get them to build a nice straight honeycomb.
