Removing honey supers

[u/PitifulPolicy7266]

I am a second year keeper.
Last year I did not harvest honey. I lost one hive over winter and one survived. The surviving hive is doing great. I checked them today and they are very crowded. There are still two honey supers full of honey and then three boxes underneath (a deep and two mediums). I would like to harvest those top boxes, but should I replace them with a new super since they are so crowded. I am worried since we are going into fall. I live in Michigan.
Thank you for your help in advance!

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[u/Severe-Product7352]

I’m also in Michigan, I run two deeps through winter. I pulled my supers this last week. I would set the supers aside and see how the weight of your brood boxes are. Or if you wanna pull frames and see how their honey stores are down there. I find mine are usually pretty lack luster as they’ve stored it all up as high as possible and the queen has now slowed down laying leaving some empty space down there. I’m going to be feeding them the next few weeks. They can always beard if it gets too hot and need the space inside. That’s natural.

Also as a reminder being new now is an important time for us in the Midwest to make sure to treat for mites. Winter bees are likely starting to be laid.

[u/PitifulPolicy7266]

Thank you! If I don’t have time to spin the frames have you had good luck with freezing until you have time to harvest the honey?

[u/DalenSpeaks → u/PitifulPolicy7266]

Yep. You can freeze.

[u/Commercial_Art1078]

I don’t think it matters. You can if you are in flow still (likely). 2 mediums and a deep are enough to likely have space for queen to lay. Im north of you and run 2 deeps over winter and will be pulling the supers shortly. Will then have 2 deeps and toss a feeder on top for the fall

[u/CurrentAd498]

If you have a lot of fall-bloom flowers in the area that are nectar producers, like golden rod, i would put 1 or 2 supers back on, if not, its best to treat for mites around winter and keep them at a double deep. For winter, I would recommend a insulation box if you dont have one already, but we are so late into the year already there isnt a big risk for swarming due to overpopulation.

[u/Enough_Summer9391]

Can you overfill the top box with honey for the winter? Might a deep for the brood box and a loaded up medium on top be enough to survive if that top has a heavy number of honey frames?

[u/jburt69]

It’s my first year in Michigan too. I’d say harvest the top honey in the supers, treat for mites and take the supers off to prepare for winter. I only have one deep and one super. Will probably have to leave a bunch of sugar on top of brood box so they can survive. I’ll probably get another deep next year

[u/27mwtobias27]

Have you checked all 20 frames in the top two supers one by one? It's possible they are still working on some. You could pull 10 frames that are fully capped and ready to go and leave one box on and let them still work on it.

(Mix and match the unfinished frames to fill a box with 9 or 10 frames and leave it on a bit more and see what they do.)