Early Spring Box Swap

On advise from our President (Colonial Beekeepers) I went ahead and did some box swapping today.

All of the hives have ended up in four medium boxes. During the winter the colony moves up the boxes to continue to have stores to make it through the winter. Thus, theoretically the bottom box could become empty. This is not a particular problem except that it gives a false impression of the size of the colony and makes the stack unnecessarily high. Also, as a reminder, I only have three hives at this point - Hive #2, my monster hive from last year, it was the mother of my first split, Hive #3, my split hive, no production last year, Hive #4, a hive that came into its own last year and produced well. So I went in to see what the status was on my hives.

Hive #2. As I took the top off, the bees were all over the top box. I pulled out one frame in the middle and it was full of honey. The other frames also seemed to be being used for honey pollen storage. Next box down was essentially the brood chamber, alot of good looking larva and brood. Next box down had a lot of bees (could be because I smoked them down) but not much else. Bottom box was also completely empty. So, I took the top two boxes and made it the bottom two boxes. I took the box that was second from the bottom and put it on top. I took the bottom most box off of the hive entirely. So from bottom to top - brood box, honey box, empty box.

Hive #4 (this is the order I worked them in). Top box, not much activity, some honey. Next box, lots of honey but not busting. Second from bottom, brood and honey, heavy box. Bottom Box, brood and honey. I decided to leave this one alone as it seemed to be in good order. I may have one too many boxes on it, but it shouldn't hurt at this time of year. So from bottom to top - brood box, brood box, honey box, light honey box.

Hive #3. Top box, pretty empty, some honey. Next box, good honey box. Second from bottom, brood box. Bottom box, empty. So, I took out the bottom box and just moved everything else down a box. So from bottom to top - brood box, honey box, light honey box.

Went to the Horticultural Extravaganza this morning. Sold some honey still left from last year. Never sure what to charge. Sold 8oz bears for 4.00 or two for 7.00 and sold pint jars for 7.00. Feel like I should have charged more for the pints?