Multiple Supering - why not?

[Lesley Hoppy]

I read on here that you should allow the bees to fill one super before putting on another .... what is wrong with just piling on two or three? Surely they are more use on the hives than waiting in the store room?
Is it simply that it is difficult to lift more than one?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

you're just slamming too much space on - especially early on in the year, they'll also tend to chimney straight up instead of working out to the sides. But whoever told you that you should leave the bees fill one super before putting on another is wrong as well - do that and it's almost guaranteed they'll swarm. I suppose you should add another when the first is half full - or a good indicator is when the box is full of bees rather than honey.
Oe of my hives has five on at the moment, and a few with three.

 

[Lesley Hoppy]

Thank you - I have three on each - none are fully capped but all are full of bees!

 

[derekm]

By adding supers you are trying to mimic the colonies slow progression down the narrow tree cavity filling the space behind it with honey. As the colony moves down it increases the heat losses to match the increasing colony numbers. Adding them one at time is a not very good approximation, adding two at a time is worse, causing an even bigger jump in heat loss, making thermal regulation more difficult.

 

[Tom Bick]

Last year I placed two supers on three hives at the same time and this year have just given a hive recently two supers after clearing one. These are big hives and I know the signs and local conditions and expecting a big nectar flow in the next two weeks so better to be ahead of the game than cough out.

 

[oliver90owner]

JBM is right on both counts. The second is down to the hive being effectively full completely. Think here nectar at ? % sugar (or 100%-?%sugar = water content) and a flow on. Nowhere to put nectar, even though the following morning there will be some space ....

Think one kilogram of sugar. As honey it will be about 1.2kg and, at a S.G. of 1.4, will occupy about 0.85 litres. Now think about that same one kilogram as, say 20% concentration of sugar in water. Its volume is now c.4 litres. More than a subtle difference in volume!

 

[Finman]

I read on here that you should allow the bees to fill one super before putting on another ..?

That style will lead to catastrophe.

One capped super needs 2 supers here bees store nectar and dry it up.

But first of all, a hive needs more room when colony expands in early summer. If you do not give, colony starts swarming.
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[Finman]

Last year I placed two supers on three hives at the same time and this year have just given a hive recently two supers after clearing one. These are big hives and I know the signs and local conditions and expecting a big nectar flow in the next two weeks so better to be ahead of the game than cough out.

Just now we have here raspberry nectar flow. Big hive brings every day 5 kg more weight into balance hive. One beek told that he got 12,5 kg in one day.

My 6 frame swarm built foundations and filled the nuc with nectar in a week. Swarm has no brood.

In these cases hives need 2 more supers at once. Super will be filled in 3 days with nectar. I have put foundation boxes.

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