No stores

[deemann1]

One of my hives has exploded in the number of bees loads of brood too .
There are barley any stores in brood box a bit in the corners of frames.
The super is only beginning to be worked on .
This hive was off a split from my original hive it was q- for a while but has new queen now the past month.
Should I feed ? And what to feed and how much.
Also when should you make a hive brood and half box.
I know alot of questions in one post !!

 

[drex]

A bit more info needed. How many frames of brood do you have and how much space is still available in which the queen can lay? Are they still bringing in forage? At this time of year the laying rate of the queen does diminish. If you decided to feed, which on the info provided I would not, do not forget it will contaminate any "honey" crop.

 

[deemann1]

There is nine frames 6 with brood and 3 totally empty .the bee's are very busy foraging. I have not feed yet.
At least six or seven frames packed with bee's...

 

[Poly Hive]

My rule of thumb is super on 8 frames of brood. Frankly in late July unless you can get the bees to heather I doubt they will need supering.

If they still have 5 frames to work with I personally think that is enough and the super is likely a hindrance.

What hive style are you using, does it have an OMF floor and is their insulation above the crown board please?


PH

 

[deemann1]

Omf and it's a national
There is no insulation above cb

 

[Beefriendly]

Frankly in late July unless you can get the bees to heather I doubt they will need supering.

Might be the case North of the Border.
Here in North Yorkshire hedgerows and fields are still full of flowers, Meadow Cranesbill, fireweed thistles etc all into flower, the balsam is just starting to yield as well. I'm adding extra supers, as I do every late July.
Heather is just coming out and all looks good for the next 6 to 8 weeks (fingers crossed for weather!). After all this has finished I can then think about varroa treatments and winter feeding.

 

[drex]

I am with PH on this one. The OP has 3 empty frames still in the brood box. No hive type in the profile, but if on nationals I would have 11 frames and a dummy, so still space to add two more frames. I would hope the empty frames are drawn comb, so queen has immediate space to lay, but if not place the foundation next to the brood, one on either side. As they get going on that add the extra two. My aim for this colony at this time of year would be to, get the brood box as full of bees as I can, so they go into winter strong. The super is already on and some being used, so I would leave it. Depending on how much they have stored in the brood box come shut down, he could always leave the super on for additional stores overwinter - but remove queen excluder before shutting down. Block any holes in the crown board and put some king span or Celotex In the roof.
Just my opinion as to how I would handle this situation, others may have different ideas

 

[Chris B]

Get the super off and feed.
A basic question you need to ask at every inspection is "do they have enough stores to last until next inspection". Sounds like they don't. And flows are never reliable.
Much better to err on the side of caution. Overfeeding is a mistake you can recover from. But if they starve you can't fix that later.

 

[deemann1]

Thanks for the feedback guys

 

[REDWOOD]

Get the super off and feed.
A basic question you need to ask at every inspection is "do they have enough stores to last until next inspection". Sounds like they don't. And flows are never reliable.
Much better to err on the side of caution. Overfeeding is a mistake you can recover from. But if they starve you can't fix that later.

basics

 

[Teemore]

Get the super off and feed.
A basic question you need to ask at every inspection is "do they have enough stores to last until next inspection". Sounds like they don't. And flows are never reliable.
Much better to err on the side of caution. Overfeeding is a mistake you can recover from. But if they starve you can't fix that later.

Spent some time on Friday evening adding feeders to nucs in a couple of my apiaries... they had taken all the syrup down by midday on Saturday. As nectar flows go over, the stores position in some colonies can be precarious. Feeding will help the colony to build up but be cautious about over-feeding as noted above.