Moving honey around for winter

Today we took advantage of nice weather and went out to the apiary. We first went to the long hive. The bees were a lot happier today. The propolis hadn't gotten fully replaced since we loosened it last field day, so we didn't shake them up as much. We moved the drawn and partially full honey frames from the back of the hive up to right behind the last full comb. This way they have all their stores in one place for the winter. The bees can't cross the big empty space if it is really cold. They were looking really good and have a lot of honey. They should be good for winter.

Next we went over to the little split. We had nine frames taken from one of my hives. Some were very full of honey, some partially full and some empty. We put them in a box on top of the little split. They still have time to put more into it before winter. We will check in a couple of weeks, or at the next field day to see if it is full. If not, we will take some from one of the other hives out there and make sure they have enough for winter. This hive was very busy kicking the drones out. We saw worker bees dragging live drones out of the entrance. The drones were bigger and stronger, so they were struggling to get back in the hive. The workers were determined to drag them out, though. We saw one just fly off rather than fight his sister to stay in the hive.

Next month we will wrap everyone up and put on mouse guards. This week the weather will be great for foraging, so hopefully the little hive will finish up where it was lacking. Everyone else looks really good.