[keithdiaz]

I started my first two hives last spring and am coming out of winter with one surviving. I overwintered with two deep brood boxes and a medium super full of honey. I figured the medium might serve the colony well if it ran out of honey in the deeps. The surviving hive has honey in the upper brood box but the bees are already in the medium super feasting on honey.

Any thoughts on how to manage this hive in the spring? How do I get the bees to the bottom deep super? Do I simply reverse the position of the upper brood box with the bottom brood box? What if the queen starts laying eggs in the medium super? Is it better practice to preserve all brood and place the empty bottom brood box on top of the medium super? I suppose that could make a very large brood nest.

-Keith

 

[JConnolly]

They'll move down on their own. Once the queen moves down, put a queen excluder between the top deep and the medium super and let any brood in the super hatch out. Make sure you have a top entrance so any drones can get out since they can't fit through the excluder. If you have a telescoping cover you may already have a top entrance. If side of the inner cover has a notch at one end, put that side down and towards the front. Then you can open the top entrance by pushing the telescoping cover forward, and close it by pushing the telescoping cover back.