Beekeepers in my area (E. Kentucky) have extracted their supers and reduced their hives down to double deeps and added varroa meds for the year. This seems odd to me since we still have goldenrod coming in a few weeks.
When looking at my hives they appear honey bound as well as if I took them down to just doubles I feel they would also have too many bees in just the doubles deeps. I still have supers on all of my hives that are almost totally filled with honey.
Last year I went into winter with doubles with no issues, but seems to me I have too many bees up in the supers to start taking them off right now, as well as the continued nectar flowing.
If I leave my supers on, I can bet they will continue to fill up, but I'm afraid I might miss being able to treat for varroa. Also concerned that the hives might swarm since they are overflowing even in the supers.
When should I take my supers off to prepare for winter?
When looking at my hives they appear honey bound as well as if I took them down to just doubles I feel they would also have too many bees in just the doubles deeps. I still have supers on all of my hives that are almost totally filled with honey.
Last year I went into winter with doubles with no issues, but seems to me I have too many bees up in the supers to start taking them off right now, as well as the continued nectar flowing.
If I leave my supers on, I can bet they will continue to fill up, but I'm afraid I might miss being able to treat for varroa. Also concerned that the hives might swarm since they are overflowing even in the supers.
When should I take my supers off to prepare for winter?