# How much honey should I leave???



## txsteele (Nov 19, 2014)

I know it's still summer but Fall/Winter will be here soon enough. I have two hives that are set up exactly the same. Two honey Supers on top of two Brood Deeps so four boxes total. 

I have harvested frames from the top Super as they become capped. I was thinking of leaving the second super that is now completely full and capped with honey for the girls to over-winter with. Is that too much honey or what?

Thoughts?


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

Here in PA, they recommend that your hive should have 150 pounds of honey. (If you have 2 deeps that they have full of honey - the supers would be all extra.)

But until Fall is actually here (and the bees have the honey in the hive) - you can't count on a Fall flow. Bad weather and other things can mess with the collecting by the bees.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

*Put your state or province in your profile. The boogie man will not come and get you.*
Makes it easier for people to answer your question. Leaving a honey super (size matters) for winter food would be more important in the far north than the south.

 Al


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## Agriculture (Jun 8, 2015)

I'm in the north and I've always left one full shallow super for the bees, and that's always worked fine for me. Nothing scientific about it, just a recommendation that I got when I first started out, and it's always worked well. Whatever else they produced has always been enough for my needs. I suppose that I could play around with it and find the exact minimum that they need, which would vary from year to year anyway. Eight frames, 6.5? Doesn't matter enough to me to bother with all of that, and one shallow has always been a rule of thumb which has worked.

I don't know how much honey if any they keep in the deeps. I just always consider them to be for brood, and space for the bees to be. Maybe more overkill, maybe not, but since I'm not selling much honey and don't have to worry too much about efficiency, it works for me.


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## txsteele (Nov 19, 2014)

alleyyooper said:


> *Put your state or province in your profile. The boogie man will not come and get you.*
> Makes it easier for people to answer your question. Leaving a honey super (size matters) for winter food would be more important in the far north than the south.
> 
> Al



Sorry about that. I'm in Houston Texas.


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