capping honey and winter storage questions

[malabarchillin]

Hi,
On the East coast of central Fla.

1. 85 degree daytime 75 at night. Our fall flow here has given me a full medium super that is not capped yet.
  Non of the frames have very much capped yet. About how long does it take bees to cap a full med super ?

2. In central  Fla I am told that it only takes 1 full deep to overwinter. Is it safe to rob all of the medium super frames once its capped ? Would cutting a couple of frames into 3rds (small freezer) and freeze them for late winter be of any benefit ? I intend to split in the spring, should I save some capped honey for the split ?

Thanks
Mike

[Understudy]

Welcome and since you aren't to far from me I can tell you this.

You don't have to winter your bees.

Those northern beekeepers are nice. But they don't understand. We are drinking frozen margaritias in shorts in Janurary.

We have blooms year round. Your queen may cut down on laying a bit but that's okay. They can gather nectar and pollen year round. You can collect honey year round also depending on the hive.

You can take all the honey supers if you want. I would recommend two deeps (my opinion) for brood or it's equal (three mediums).  Make sure you leave any honey frames in the brood chambers. Don't get greedy.

If I take a honey super off I replace it with an empty. Unless the forecast is for those two weeks where it actually gets cold in the 40s(F) then don't worry about adding an open super for the bees to work on.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[thumper]

Unless your in a hurry for some honey ,leave it on the hive. I usually extract the first of Feb. That way I'm taking all the "old honey off right before orange blooms( no mixing). That way I'm not tring to guess if I've robbed to much or to little. if it turns into a hard winter the bees will have plenty to eat.

[reinbeau]

Unless your in a hurry for some honey ,leave it on the hive. I usually extract the first of Feb. That way I'm taking all the "old honey off right before orange blooms( no mixing). That way I'm not tring to guess if I've robbed to much or to little. if it turns into a hard winter the bees will have plenty to eat.

They, Thumper, could you put your location in your profile so you're no longer hopelessly lost? ;)  I'd like to know whereabouts you're located, extracting in February?  It's mighty cold around here then (usually), I can't imagine pulling honey supers in mid-winter!