Is it too early to add supers ?

[ROACHMAN]

I inspected my 2 hives a few days ago for the first time, one of them is bursting at the seams with brood and stores. I have noticed that the hawthorn and blackthorn is now in flower and i am worried that the bees are very short of storage space

Would it be a good idea to add a super at this early stage to give them more room ?

 

[Finman]

.
If it is second box, give it under the brood box. Put there couple of foundations. Don't use excluder.

 

[Tom Bick]

If they need the room then best to give it to them.

A good indication is when they start to build comb up through the feed hole of the crown board.

 

[enrico]

well I would certainly add a super over a queen excluder. I am not sure if you are new to keeping bees but they need time to draw out new foundation so get it on there. At the moment valuable laying space is being taken up with food and you want your hive building up like mad now.
that's what I would do anyway!

 

[ROACHMAN]

Yes, I had fondant on up to 2 weeks ago and they were building foundation in the bag !

 

[Mike101]

Yes, I had fondant on up to 2 weeks ago and they were building foundation in the bag !

Was it wired or unwired? Only joking

 

[Poly Hive]

How many frames of brood is "bursting"?

PH

 

[Andy Coleman]

That's what I did yesterday, for the same reasons, brood & half looking pretty cramped, loadsof stores & BIAS. Bound to snow now!

 

[Poly Hive]

The trick is to turn the stores into brood.

PH

 

[ROACHMAN]

5 frames of brood and 5 of stores, didnt check again this weekend due to low temperatures in this area

 

[Andy Coleman]

that's what I'm hoping for - I took a frame of stores in put it in the super, and replaced it (2nd in from the side of teh upstairs brood box) with an empty but drawn frame. There's a mixture of drawn/ part drawn and fresh foundation in the super, so I hoped the stores up there might atttract a few through the excluder.
We shall see!

 

[Poly Hive]

I super on 8.

You might want to bruise some of the stores combs to get them into brood. Bruise two and put on either side of the brood nest.

On that basis I would be looking to super in two to three weeks.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

I super on around eight eight frames of brood,and been supering some today that are on eighteen frames of brood. Looking good for the early rape this year.

 

[Poly Hive]

Amazing the differences with the various climates.

Just discussing this today with Julie and we think we have a very late Spring up here, in Norfolk the OSR was in some cases at 10% and ready for the bees, up here there is nothing showing yet.

Here today it was theoretically 12 degrees but more like 8 with the wind chill. I doubt if I have 6-7 frames in my best hives and more likely 5. (of brood that is)

PH

 

[Friar Tuck]

I have 7 of brood and popped a super on at the weekend after the bees built loads of comb in a gable roof

 

[rae]

We have the OSR starting to flower, and the "big colony" was awash with bees, and about 7 full (14x12) frames of capped brood, not much room for eggs. As we are going away for 10 days, we've given them 2 supers to be getting on with. Once those 7 frames hatch out (about 7 days) they're going to be inundated with bees....

 

[John Ashby]

I inspected my 2 hives a few days ago for the first time, one of them is bursting at the seams with brood and stores. I have noticed that the hawthorn and blackthorn is now in flower and i am worried that the bees are very short of storage space

Would it be a good idea to add a super at this early stage to give them more room ?

no, if they need somewhere to put stores

 

[ROACHMAN]

no, if they need somewhere to put stores

 

[Vortex]

We inspected the club apiary yesterday - first inspection of the year. 3 pf the 5 hives desperately needed a super so they got one. We also put a super on the one with the least amount of room - a single undrawn brood frame left from last year.
2 of them hadn't had their eke's from last years varroa treatment removed and they'd wildcombed the gap between the frames and the crown board and filled it with honey.

 

[oliver90owner]

I am bemused by he number of people who do 'this' or 'that' by dates - or don't consider it from the point of view of the bees. IF they need it you do it, whatever the date might be. Bees read the calender no more than they read the text books on the subject.

RAB