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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Elisabeth Curtis <granda.curtis AT gmail.com>
  • To: David Eckert <daveckert AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Interesting trend
  • Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:32:55 -0400

We've seen a similar pattern. With the hive we inspected over the weekend, most of the brood was in the top deep, along with honey, pollen and nectar. The bottom deep had pollen and a lot of empty space. We decided to switch the top for bottom deeps and feed, hoping they would store up some honey in the top deep. We'll see. With the other two hives in which we saw this pattern some time ago, we did not switch, though we may if it continues into the fall.

On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 9:57 AM, David Eckert <daveckert AT gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I have been seeing a trend in my hives and I wanted to see if others are seeing the same thing.  In my hives with two deeps, nearly all of them (8 of 10 colonies) have moved their brood area into the top deep and have filled or nearly filled the bottom deep with pollen.  Are others with this or a similar hive configuration seeing the same thing?  

Last year I had several colonies move up into the top deep about this time of year and leave the bottom deep completely empty.  So, since they weren't using it I simply removed the bottom deep heading into winter.  With the bottom deep being full of pollen this year I'm reluctant to remove it but I'm also seeing a much increased number of hive beetle and don't want to leave a fertile breeding ground for them.  I'm also wondering if the bees are likely to make use of all this pollen over the winter since it's below the brood area.  I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who might have seen a similar scenario in the past and what you did or didn't do about it as well as how it turned out for you.  

Thanks,
Dave

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