[jdagpatton]

I checked my hives today and noticed that one is full of brood. The fall flow has just fully developed and the bees are busy. I was concerned because my hive has alot of brood in both the bottom and top deep (quite alot of drone brood also). Shouldnt they be trying to store up for winter. The other hive seems to be doing what I expected. Most upper deep combs are being capped with one or two of the middle ones having brood, the bottom deep being mostly brood with a few frames of capped honey on each side. By the way, this is the first week I have had any brood in the upper deeps.......until now they have just been drawing out foundation and storing in the upper deep. These are first year hives from packages in April.

 

[jdagpatton]

I might also mention that the hive with all the brood has been my stronger hive all year.

 

[tecumseh]

I think what you are seeing is a slight difference in breeding. some queens just don't seem to know when to shut the egg laying down. since you have noticed the difference, it would be interesting to see which hive thrives better at your location.

I would suspect the more proflific queen will need to be watched more closely since they can exhaust feed reserves and starve. this type of queen also tend to represent the kind of queen everyone wishes to maintain, because they have the possibility of producing the greatest surplus.

 

[Michael Bush]

They need some young bees to get through until spring. It's normal for them to try to get some now.