second super ?

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badger

New Bee
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
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Location
Oxfordshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
3
Hi,
We added a super two weeks ago and on inspection earlier this week they had nearly drawn all the ten frames out and had around eight frames of uncapped honey stored in them.
Our next inspection will be towards the end of next week and I wondered when would be the best time to add another super ?
The hive is from a five frame nuc only six weeks old.
 
Yup, put one on UNDER the full one and let them get on with it.

PH
 
Is that the standard way to add a super? Put the new one underneath? I had heard that you should add a couple of the full frames to the new super and put new foundation frames up in the full super, but I'm not sure if I got that right, and if I did, why it's necessary to do that.
 
It is basically warmer closer to the brood nest so easier for the bees to make and draw wax, mine certainly draw the frames over the brood area out first and I then tend to swap them out towards the edges and bring in the foundation over the brood area.
 
Ah, thanks for that Nellie - I'll move my four full frames from the old super out to the edge then!
 
Warmth is one part of it but there is an increased gathering instinct if there is space ABOVE the brood nest.

Hence lift the full or filling super and put the new one on the excluder.

PH
 
Just a quickie on a similar topic.
I'm trying to increase numbers and populate a second hive. I've put in a second brood box last week above the first. Today frames are being filled out with honey stores. Early days yet but should the second brood box be above or below the original or does it matter?? Cheers.
 
Above, certainly at this time of year. Bees like to go up, and the only worry is that you put on a big space for them to keep warm - so doing this in the early spring is risky. We did this to ours quite early, but the weather was good and the hives are sheltered. Within a week they had drawn out 4 14x12 frames, and a week later they had drawn the lot and had 5 frames of brood.

Feed them syrup as well - drawing a brood box takes a fair bit of energy.
 

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