Lifting off supers

[Roola]

I have been thinking, if you're not very tall or super strong, what is the best way to harvest your supers? In a perfect world you'd be able to lift them up put clearer board in then later lift off and walk away... Do any of you have any advice on this? I'm curious.

 

[Suzi Q]

Yes I'm beginning to worry about that! For me, it is ok lifting heavy supers off if they are low down, but I'm struggling when they are shoulder height. Should have made a lower hive stand, I think

 

[Cazza]

I am quite feek and weeble and can manage a super with a bit of effort. I use a lifting belt if my back is bad.

If I couldn't, then I would take out a frame at a time, shake/brush the bees off and fill an empty super with as many frames as I could carry.

Some people use half supers.
Cazza

 

[Winker]

I

I would take out a frame at a time, shake/brush the bees off and fill an empty super with as many frames as I could carry.

Cazza

I sometimes do it that way if all my clearer boards are on other hives

 

[enrico]

Put an empty super by your hive, take five frames out and put them in the empty super, remove the super that you have just taken the frames out of, put the clearer board on and both half supers on top.....bob's your uncle!
E

 

[Excession]

Get down the gym!

In all seriousness though you could really hurt yourself lifting and shifting heavy supers.

If you can't lift it without concern, just transfer the frames into an empty super that's ready to go.

And for clearance you may need to look into a fume board to drive them down instead of a clearer board. Better than a brush in my opinion.

Didn't read Enrico's post, but that'll do it too

 

[MuswellMetro]

some suppliers make Half Supers similar to the Dartington Super

 

[itma]

some suppliers make Half Supers similar to the Dartington Super

Just to explain this a little more... the "half supers" take standard frames - just half as many! (So each level would have two boxes on a standard hive.)

 

[Queens59]

I'm 5 ft and struggle so I do as Muswell and Enrico suggest, a few frames at a time...into an empty super with solid floor and lid.

 

[RogueDrone]

You can always just move the frames as they are sealed. Brush the bees of and transfer to your extraction room / bee proof room until you have enough to carry out extraction.

Colin

 

[Barbarian]

Off Hive Clearing

To reduce the amount of lifting and colony disturbance, I use a method from the Quarterly of a few years ago.

Set up a stand near your hives. On goes a floor open front and back. Now a shallow rim. Next a clearer board for the bees to exit downwards. The supers (from more than one hive) are stacked next. Top off with another clearer board (exit upwards), rim and upturned open floor. The bees don't fight and after a suitable time the mainly cleared supers can be removed for extraction.

If you think about it there is less lifting of supers and you only go once to each hive.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have a slave.....sorry wrong answer....I know

 

[drstitson]

make a set of half supers?

 

[VEG]

I would never complain about lifting off full supers only empty ones lol

 

[Stickyfingers]

I have a slave.....sorry wrong answer....I know

I've got one of those to....there quite handy!

 

[melon]

This sounds like a good idea, barbarian, that I would like to try. But, do young non flying bees never go in the super, otherwise I would worry they would not find their way home. Do they really not fight if mixed from various hives?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

This sounds like a good idea, barbarian, that I would like to try. But, do young non flying bees never go in the super, otherwise I would worry they would not find their way home. Do they really not fight if mixed from various hives?

Put bees from more than two colonies together and they're too confused to fight - as for young bees, they can actually fly after three days - and a colony will always accept a nurse bee wherever she's come from

 

[MuswellMetro]

I've got one of those to....there quite handy!

Yes so do i, but i find they are VERY expensive to run especially in the cloths and handbag areas

 

[JohnyP]

I'm off to add a 4th super to a commercial hive later today. Hope the hive stand can take the weight

 

[psafloyd]

I have been thinking, if you're not very tall or super strong, what is the best way to harvest your supers? In a perfect world you'd be able to lift them up put clearer board in then later lift off and walk away... Do any of you have any advice on this? I'm curious.

Get a tall and strong person to do them for you. They are bloody heavy once four feet in the air...