[CookieDough]

I’m a first year beekeeper in Cincinnati and my hive has done well. I was under the impression the number of bees I have would have been reduced by now but I still have to deep brood boxes full of bees. No way they’re going to fit in one deep. Should I be concerned? I’m not sure how many more days I’ll have to open the hive and finish making winter preparations. Thanks for the help

 

[Michael Bush]

The reduction is caused by older bees dying off. All of the old field bees will die over the next three weeks.

 

[dekster]

You'll be surprised... I reduced all my doubles to single box and while it was still warm they were all hanging outside, but as temperatures dropped they all magically squeezed into the single box...

 

[fieldsofnaturalhoney]

No way they’re going to fit in one deep. Should I be concerned?

I wouldn't. Why do they have to fit in one deep? They can winter in two, are their any supers above? What's in the frames of the top deep?

 

[creesbees]

Remember when it gets cold they'll cluster a lot "smaller". Also we had a very warm October (90's to start the month) and it is just now cooling off. My queens didn't start slowing down as usual, leading to a higher population of bees. I fed my hives a little extra to compensate for the extra population going into winter.

 

[CookieDough]

My top deep brood box, which at the moment has enormous about of bees has very little honey or pollen stored in it. However, I do have a deep honey box full of honey on top of the brood box.

I do have two other hives out on a farm and when I checked them last weekend they had reduced the number of bees and they were already living in the lower deep brood box. The upper or second brood box on each of those hives had been filled with capped honey and pollen. I removed the queen excluder, took off the honey super, added a candy board above the now "brood/honey deep" and added a box with a center ventilation slot and pine chips on either side of the slot to capture condensation.

I was just so surprised about how different my farm hives were compared to my suburb hive. My biggest concern is with the weather taking a plunge, I will endanger my bees if I have to open the hive to install the candy board and the condensation box.

 

[GregB]

........ I will endanger my bees if I have to open the hive to install the candy board and the condensation box.

You will not endanger your bees by doing it.
A non-issue.