I'm a bit baffled about bees' winter feeding: I understand that the cluster of bees moves upwards as the winter progresses, which is why I have been taught to leave candy on the frames above the cluster. I also understand that we should leave them as much honey as possible as honey is a better food for bees than candy - so I left them a super-full of honey.

My question is, as they move upwards, what happens to the frames full of honey on the left and right of the cluster? Do they ever manage to get to them? And if the cluster started off in the middle of the hive and then moved, say, left, how do they then get to the honey on the right? It means they have to cross a vast desert of empty frames where they've already eaten all the food in order to get to the other side.

In a vertical hive the cluster can move to the sides by walking across the tops of the frames and avoid the colder sides of the hive - but what happens in a top bar hive where the top bars are close together? If they want to move left or right, the whole cluster has to move to the side of the hive where it is colder to get round the frames. Do they do that?

This question touches on my thoughts about hive dimensions. I'm still trying to figure out what I want - but if I think about winter feeding, then I think the best hive would be vertical with the boxes perhaps smaller than a National and more cube-like with length, width and height more equal so that the bees need only to move up and up - and they'll get to all their food with ease. (Or perhaps I could get a similar effect by using two supers instead of one, but reduce their size with follower boards?)

This is only my second winter with bees. Apologies if I'm asking dumb questions.

Kitta