Supering Dilemma - Lothian

[pargyle]

Useful postings, as a result I delayed my plan of putting supers on today. One exception was a heavy one with the eke filled with comb…containing larvae. Decided the BB must be full of stores and Q has limited space to lay. Placed the super above the BB with a QE. Didn’t inspect, too cold with wind chill.

I then, on reflection… took the the QE off to allow the Q more space… so now hive is brood and a half.

Yes ... best off without the QE ... they will almost certainly move up and you will find a column of brood up the centre of the two boxes ... but .. they will sort it out, clear the super of brood as the month draws on and flows start and fill the super with nectar in due course ... or they may use all the space available for brood if your queen is capable of laying it up ... then just super as normal.

 

[enrico]

Useful postings, as a result I delayed my plan of putting supers on today. One exception was a heavy one with the eke filled with comb…containing larvae. Decided the BB must be full of stores and Q has limited space to lay. Placed the super above the BB with a QE. Didn’t inspect, too cold with wind chill.

I then, on reflection… took the the QE off to allow the Q more space… so now hive is brood and a half.

In which case I would have put it under the main brood box! But that's just me!

 

[Newbeeneil]

In which case I would have put it under the main brood box! But that's just me!

That's what I have done to my really strong hives. I've been putting BB's under the strong hives so they have the room but hopefully won't lose too much heat.

 

[CaptainCymru]

This is where boxes of the same size would come in handy , put all your boxes underneath as finman states to give room for the season , soon as weather is warm end of may find the queen and bash in the QE if needed, add a small upper entrance for drones to escape. This will be my plan going forward !

 

[ericbeaumont]

one hive was jam packed with bees wall to wall with brood and a about three frames of stores, including fresh nectar. I had no choice but to add a super as the queen had ran out of space

If the queen runs out of space a super is not really going to relieve congestion (of bees and nectar) sufficiently to release room for her and prevent swarming.

As others have said, if you want to balance the need for laying space against the risk of chilling the nest during this cold spell, put a second brood box under the first. Risk may soon be over, as longer range weather suggests this cold spell is temporary.

 

[andrew_r]

If the queen runs out of space a super is not really going to relieve congestion (of bees and nectar) sufficiently to release room for her and prevent swarming.

As others have said, if you want to balance the need for laying space against the risk of chilling the nest during this cold spell, put a second brood box under the first. Risk may soon be over, as longer range weather suggests this cold spell is temporary.

Thanks for the tips, I forgot to mention that I also added two brood frames either side of the brood nest. Given how much wax they’ve been making recently, hopefully they’ll draw these out quickly, especially as the super I put on was wet.

Weather here was 16 degrees yesterday, with similar conditions set to continue over the next 1-2 weeks. They’re bringing in nectar from somewhere so they need somewhere to store it. Fingers crossed for a warm spell on the horizon and not too many cold snaps.

Andrew.

 

[elainemary]

In which case I would have put it under the main brood box! But that's just me!

I’m v interested in your way of adding brood space below early in the season. Makes complete sense keeping the warmth at the top. Can see when doing this could be v useful - e.g if going away on holiday or too cool at the time to be moving frames around between boxes.

My only question is in the circumstance where only part drawn comb is available, so forced to use some foundation too, will the bees make holes in the foundation below, or will they draw when the weather improves - assuming enough nurse bees of right age?

 

[Boston Bees]

I’m v interested in your way of adding brood space below early in the season. Makes complete sense keeping the warmth at the top. Can see when doing this could be v useful - e.g if going away on holiday or too cool at the time to be moving frames around between boxes.

My only question is in the circumstance where only part drawn comb is available, so forced to use some foundation too, will the bees make holes in the foundation below, or will they draw when the weather improves - assuming enough nurse bees of right age?

Why would they make holes in the foundation (or at least, any more than they normally do)?

 

[elainemary]

Why would they make holes in the foundation (or at least, any more than they normally do)?

Wasn’t anticipating more than usual, just if they did at all in these circumstances

 

[CaptainCymru]

What are peoples thoughts on a sacrificial super ? As in leaving a super on without QE over winter then removing it when weather warms up.Would that take care of any fondant that may have been stored above ? You could then stick it back on in the autumn after harvest .

 

[Boston Bees]

What are peoples thoughts on a sacrificial super ? As in leaving a super on without QE over winter then removing it when weather warms up.Would that take care of any fondant that may have been stored above ? You could then stick it back on in the autumn after harvest .

Sure, but the queen will be laying in it by spring, so you would have to put the QE on in spring, then wait until all the brood hatches, before removing it, by which point it would be full of new nectar (and some stored syrup probably too).

 

[enrico]

I’m v interested in your way of adding brood space below early in the season. Makes complete sense keeping the warmth at the top. Can see when doing this could be v useful - e.g if going away on holiday or too cool at the time to be moving frames around between boxes.

My only question is in the circumstance where only part drawn comb is available, so forced to use some foundation too, will the bees make holes in the foundation below, or will they draw when the weather improves - assuming enough nurse bees of right age?

To be honest they are not keen in drawing foundation below unless they really need to and it is warm enough. I would put all drawn foundation in the centre to allow them to funnel. They only use the box if they have to and most of the time I have miscalculated and they never use it! Makes me feel better though!

 

[enrico]

What are peoples thoughts on a sacrificial super ? As in leaving a super on without QE over winter then removing it when weather warms up.Would that take care of any fondant that may have been stored above ? You could then stick it back on in the autumn after harvest .

Mucking around with brood......just remove food frames and replace