I thought I'd share this with the group.

The past week or more, both of my colonies have been bearding up on the front of their boxes.  I thought maybe it was because of the heat, but also had a nagging suspicion that they might be getting crowded.  So, today we had a break in the wind and thunderstorms we've had the past week and we opened them up.  Sure enough, they were basically honey-bound.  Even the new colony from April, which is now 2-deep had the upper box almost full of honey.  Only 3 frames in the top box had any brood, and only about a 4-inch circle in the middle. 

So, we started pulling capped honey out.  Long messy story short, we took 5 gallons out of the old hive, and a full deep frame out of the new one to give them some room. It didn't even make a dent in one hive's stores. They still have at least 7 deep frames full, and 4 mediums full, without even counting what's in around the brood. The other hive has a lot left too.  

Hopefully, this will give them some living room, and something to do for a few days. (Clean up the mess we left them...

So, now the kitchen is a sticky, dripping mess, but we'll be filling jelly jars soon. 

I hope it keeps raining - they'll make more.