Empty supers

[winginit]

I am leaving town Friday for 9 days. Night time temperatures are supposed to drop to the thirties while I'm gone. We've had a great fall flow and temperatures 20 degrees above normal, which I hope saved my hives. Both were bone dry a month ago in spite of constant feeding. But now we're supposed to be getting highs around 60-70. So maybe one more week of nectar gathering for the bees around here.

One of my hives has a deep full of honey and bees, with an empty medium above. The bees are finally just starting to draw the comb in the medium above. I don't think they'll get much done and capped (but I'd love to be wrong). Should I remove the medium before I leave, or will they be warm enough for now and if it doesn't fill, I can just remove it later?

My other hive has one small full of bees and nectar, not too much capped honey yet. It has a second small that is fully drawn but only 1/3 to 1/2 full of honey, very little capped yet. I just moved that small to the top. For its size, this hive seems to have a lot of egss and larvae. It had a lot of capped brood last week, but that's hatched and been replaced by eggs. Will this be enough to survive? I will feed in winter, either dry sugar or hard candy.

[indypartridge]

Should I remove the medium before I leave, or will they be warm enough for now and if it doesn't fill, I can just remove it later?

I'd leave it. As you noted, it's been a warm October, and my bees are still very active and working the goldenrod and asters.

My other hive .... Will this be enough to survive? I will feed in winter, either dry sugar or hard candy.

Hard to predict. Last winter I had two strong colonies die, one with plenty of stores remaining, while a dinky hive from a late-summer swarm survived.