Super has queen laying, how do I get the bees back in the empty brood box?

[Curly green finger's]

Hi, I've not posted before so sorry if this is a silly question. Yesterday I inspected a hive with a brood box and honey super. The super had 5 frames of capped honey and I found the queen up there having laid in 6 frames. However there were no stores or brood in the brood box although 2 seams of bees were in there. How do I get the queen back in the brood box? Do I simply reverse the boxes and hope they all move up soon or will shy come down when there is no room?

Score the honey frames and reverse the boxes

 

[Finman]

Let the hive first fill the super with brood., and the lower bix too. You have no hurry to spoil their spring buid up.

When brood emerge, bees fill that super with honey, and thats it

 

[Finman]

Score the honey frames and reverse the boxes

4 super frames brood.

So far the brood area iso small, that no idea idea to reverse boxes. Let the queen to use that super box.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Agree with Finnie
Far too little brood to be swapping boxes

 

[Nannysbees]

Some people run brood and a half.. Its good for spotting queen cells by just tipping the super...

That's what we are planning to have a brood and a half

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Quick update, Queen still in super but they have brood on 4 frames in the brood box with brood in all stages and they are building up stores in there too. I tried to get the queen to go down but she was persistent at being in the super so I left the queen excluder off and let her have free reign. Eventually I'll catch her down there! Thanks for your help

No need to fiddle about at all, ,certainly no need to bruise the comb and nadir the shallow.
As I said in the beginning, leave as is, once the flow starts the top box will fill with brood and the queen will move down into the deep. You can then pop in the QX if you feel the need

 

[ericbeaumont]

I tried to get the queen to go down but she was persistent at being in the super

What did you try to get her down?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Why not have the deap above she will lay up there smartish

 

[Swn58]

Quick update, Queen still in super but they have brood on 4 frames in the brood box with brood in all stages and they are building up stores in there too. I tried to get the queen to go down but she was persistent at being in the super so I left the queen excluder off and let her have free reign. Eventually I'll catch her down there! Thanks for your help

I'm still amazed that people are going deep into their hives, checking the brood, queens, generally messing around. It can be so easy to mess up at this time of year, as hive temperatures can be so important. A drop in outside temperature....like about to happen....coupled with making a colony split up across the frames etc. due to 'fiddling.' can cause the bees to fail in keeping the colony warm enough.
Next set of posts:
'It's Spring, yet my bees are dead. They were fine when I looked at the brood frames a few weeks ago!'
'Is my queen dead? I only saw her in late February.'

 

[Boston Bees]

I'm still amazed that people are going deep into their hives, checking the brood, queens, generally messing around. It can be so easy to mess up at this time of year, as hive temperatures can be so important. A drop in outside temperature....like about to happen....coupled with making a colony split up across the frames etc. due to 'fiddling.' can cause the bees to fail in keeping the colony warm enough.
Next set of posts:
'It's Spring, yet my bees are dead. They were fine when I looked at the brood frames a few weeks ago!'
'Is my queen dead? I only saw her in late February.'

This!

I have yet to pull a single frame from a single box. A dead queen at this time of year is a dead colony.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why not have the deap above she will lay up there smartish

Because you're giving them a load of empty space above the brood to heat - for no good reason.
Try to think this one through and work with the bees for a change - their natural instinct is to work down and leave stores above as the flow progresses. the beekeeper's objective is to have the shallow on top, so why muck around with moving the boxes around and giving bees extra work at a time when they need all their energy to get through to spring as their objective is the same as yours anyway?

 

[mbc]

The best way of not having bees in supers is to use queen excluders with them. If you've omitted this or had an excluder malfunction and got a queen laying in your super then the queen needs to be found and put below a functioning excluder or all the bees shaken down. This is best done before there's any drone brood layed up in the super.
A super that has has laying in it will from then on be vulnerable to wax moth attach when in storage.

 

[Boston Bees]

The best way of not having bees in supers is to use queen excluders with them. If you've omitted this or had an excluder malfunction and got a queen laying in your super then the queen needs to be found and put below a functioning excluder or all the bees shaken down. This is best done before there's any drone brood layed up in the super.
A super that has has laying in it will from then on be vulnerable to wax moth attach when in storage.

Of course, but you can't leave an excluder on over winter.

 

[enrico]

That's what we are planning to have a brood and a half

If you run brood and a half then put the half on the bottom. I never bother checking the half! And queen cells will (usually) be on the bottom of the brood frames. Double brood is a lot easier when it comes to splits etc so think carefully before half brooding!

 

[Murox]

If you run brood and a half then put the half on the bottom. I never bother checking the half! And queen cells will (usually) be on the bottom of the brood frames. Double brood is a lot easier when it comes to splits etc so think carefully before half brooding!

Thats reminded me of the 8 over 8 way - does anyone still use it?

 

[Nannysbees]

If you run brood and a half then put the half on the bottom. I never bother checking the half! And queen cells will (usually) be on the bottom of the brood frames. Double brood is a lot easier when it comes to splits etc so think carefully before half brooding!

OK that's interesting, was hoping that if we give extra laying room there wouldn't be a need to split and they wouldn't swarm? I didn't really want to go above two hives if possible

 

[mbc]

Of course, but you can't leave an excluder on over winter.

Then life's much simpler if you don't leave a super either.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

was hoping that if we give extra laying room there wouldn't be a need to split and they wouldn't swarm?

 

[Finman]

Then life's much simpler if you don't leave a super either.

Who wants simplier life.
Just now one queen is laying in super box, and everything is upset. Nothing wrong in such laying. Main thing is, that there is a queen and it lays . Everybody should be happy!

 

[pargyle]

Score the honey frames and reverse the boxes

Probably best to read the original post before posting stupid replies ...

The super had 5 frames of capped honey and I found the queen up there having laid in 6 frames.