[bee-yoo-ty]

I located in southern Ontario - east of toronto. Last week I took honey supers off of my hives to get them ready for the winter. A few days later I noticed a hive was very full. I put a deep super on it. This quickly filled and became heavy with honey so I put another on on. Is this hive overcrowded? Will it swarm this time of year?? Here is a pic as the bees are very bearded up in the front, completely blocking the entrance.Click image for larger version.

 

[Vance G]

Fall swarming is not common but over crowded bees may think it is time to leave. That said, I pull my honey when the flow is over, apparently much sooner than your flow! The bees hang out because their metabolic heat is not needed in the hive. They are like skin cells and fingernails waiting to be clipped, just no longer needed. When the flow stops, it will be safe to pull your supers and extract. I would want to check the weight of the hive after the supers are pulled to make sure they are heavy enough to winter. My arbitrary but guided by experience target is 125-140 Lbs for a two deep brood box, lid and bottom board configuration. Congratulations on your honey crop~!

 

[Fivej]

What Vance said. The only thing I would add is to make sure they have enough stores below before you extract. They may be storing it in the supers or even moving it up into them. That they filled a super in a week makes me suspect this. J