Stickyfingers
House Bee
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Surrey
- Hive Type
- Langstroth
- Number of Hives
- 7
You miss the point ... if you put a super on top then you will end up with the brood in it come spring and stores, potentially, left below in the brood box. You can't leave a queen excluder in place to stop the queen moving up and laying as you risk her being left out as the cluster will establish itself at the top of the hive.
Put a super underneath and if they need the space for honey they will fill it but the brood nest will be where it should be in Spring .. you can then, when Spring arrives, remove the super from underneath the brood box when, with luck, by then, it will be empty. Wintering with supers on top of the hive is Soooooo.... old fashioned ...
In addition ... Irishguy has made kingspan bonnets for his hives so the likelihood (if it's anything like my insulated hives) there will be brood for most of the winter and a very early start to brooding in the spring ...
Any super added on over winter can effectively become a brood box. It doesnt matter where they end up in the spring. It cant be used again for honey. Not if youve treated or fed.
I mentioned nothing about a QE.
There's no right or wrong technique it what suits the beek so saying that old fasioned is misleading newbies.
And if i shook swarm in the spring none of it matters where they are.
I dont think a kingspan bonnet will ensure an early spring build up anymore than me using a poly.