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

[Busylizzie]

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?

 

[Amari]

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?

Yes, you could reverse the boxes and give a good feed above the top box. Ideally syrup if the weather warms up a bit.

 

[pargyle]

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?

I would leave them be ... the brood in the super needs to be left until it emerges - if you put it below an empty brood box they will have some difficulty keeping it warm as the heat will all go up. Better to leave as is, the queen will start to lay in the brood box and they will back fill the super with honey. Were you feeding them in Autumn ? If so that super of honey may not be honey ... it may be stored syrup so be careful if you are looking to use it as a crop.

Once the queen starts to lay in the brood box you can put a queen excluder in if you don't want to run brood and a half - depends on what size boxes you run and how productive the colony is and the fecundity of the queen.

It's not that warm in sunny Donny yet ... less fiddling you do before it warms up the better. I certainly would not be queen hunting.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Agree with Philip.
Too early to be swapping boxes.
I would leave them alone.

 

[drex]

Yes, leave them alone. As her laying rate increases, she, and the brood nest will naturally move downwards, and the vacated cells above will be back filled with honey. Just what you want. Then you can pop in the excluder, should you wish

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

you could reverse the boxes and give a good feed above the top box.

Why? there are still five frames of stores there.
As most have said - too early to be fiddling in the boxes anyway - leve the colony build up and you will find that soon, the queen will be laying in the brood box, you can then replace the QX and the super will once again be just for honey.

 

[Busylizzie]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[hemo]

Beekeeper fiddling to early can lead to colony demise just as you think they have made it through winter. I have posted the below recently on another thread.
In the LBKA one women has already double brooded with new box on top just because she has seen a few bees flying, this was over a week maybe two weeks ago now. So far she has lost 5 of 7 colonies, as it jumping the gun because she wants to split the hive to make up for losses. Problem apart from being to early with unsettled winter weather and until the weather allows a proper look she has no idea on numbers and will loose a lot of heat, I fear #6 may be added to the losses.

 

[domino]

I only took the mouse guards off his week and checked the feed, people are reversing boxes already. I'm a beekeeping tortoise.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I only took the mouse guards off his week and checked the feed, people are reversing boxes already. I'm a beekeeping tortoise.

Don't panic, you're not alone

 

[domino]

Don't panic, you're not alone

I'm going to risk taking with the winter wrappings off Saturday, I may even go wild and get the nailgun out an make up some frames.

 

[Ian123]

Lol I’ve got queens arriving in 2-3 weeks

 

[Amari]

I would leave them be ... the brood in the super needs to be left until it emerges - if you put it below an empty brood box they will have some difficulty keeping it warm as the heat will all go up. Better to leave as is, the queen will start to lay in the brood box and they will back fill the super with honey. Were you feeding them in Autumn ? If so that super of honey may not be honey ... it may be stored syrup so be careful if you are looking to use it as a crop.

Once the queen starts to lay in the brood box you can put a queen excluder in if you don't want to run brood and a half - depends on what size boxes you run and how productive the colony is and the fecundity of the queen.

It's not that warm in sunny Donny yet ... less fiddling you do before it warms up the better. I certainly would not be queen hunting.

Nowt wrong with a quick reversal of boxes late March. The OP has bees in the super and on two frames in the BB beneath. That's enough bees to keep the brood warm if the boxes are reversed. Many colonies overwinter in one box = brood at this time of year just above the OMF.

 

[Amari]

Why? there are still five frames of stores there.
As most have said - too early to be fiddling in the boxes anyway - leve the colony build up and you will find that soon, the queen will be laying in the brood box, you can then replace the QX and the super will once again be just for honey.

The OP states there is no brood or food in the BB. That's a lot of empty comb with no nectar flow likely for several weeks. No harm in giving a stimulatory feed.

 

[BigAshW]

Don't panic, you're not alone

I've done nothing yet other than add a bit of fondant to some that felt a bit light. I don't think we've had more than three consecutive days with temps above 11 degrees so far.

 

[The Poot]

Mine are flying in good numbers, but only for a short period in the warmest part of the day. They are taking in lots of pollen, but feeding like crazy on the fondant which is looking like needing a top up again at the weekend.
My take on it is there is little nectar available, but the colony numbers are growing quickly, thus the feeding frenzy on the fondant and the need for fresh pollen.
I have no plans to disturb them yet, but I am about to remove outer insulation.

 

[Amari]

I've done nothing yet other than add a bit of fondant to some that felt a bit light. I don't think we've had more than three consecutive days with temps above 11 degrees so far.

Same here up the road from you: temps below 10C for more than a week with strong winds. 19C in Edinburgh yesterday!

 

[Finman]

I do not know, what are the previous answers.

But when the super is full of brood and new bees emerge, the queen goes to the lower box and fills it with brood.

To reverse boxes this time of year is an disaster to the colony.

Now you have a brood and half system, and nothing more strange in it.

 

[Busylizzie]

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

 

[linoleum bonypart]

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