supering while away?

[acabee]

I'm away for Easter (11 days).
The forecast till mid April (Metcheck) says little likelihood of anything +10 degrees and possibility of -2 on some nights.

I know there is a laying queen as I checked on that 17C day we had some weeks back.

I'm going to do a very quick in/out to check for stores before I go and will add fondant as necessary.

*IF* stores are good, and bees on 8+ frames should I add a super 'just in case' the weather warms up and they need extra space for storage?

I don't want to set off a swarming urge will away for lack of space, but am equally concerned I don't want to increase hive volume and risk separating from stores if they cluster into the super on the colder nights.

Thanks for your thoughts.

acabee

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Id be surprised if there at full strength yet due to weather - however, I read that two sheets of news paper between the super and brood box (and qx) could be used when going on holiday etc so they can break into the space if they want....

 

[drex]

Here, it has been consistently cold for last 14 days, and I expect the queen has not been laying a lot. Do not forget it takes 21 days for worker to emerge from cell. Where are all these bees you might be expecting suddenly going to appear from? I would settle for checking they have enough stores, rather than giving extra space to be heated, while it is likely to remain so cold.

 

[enrico]

No flowers here, no flow......no need for a super, are you likely to get a flow of nectar?

 

[drex]

I noticed this morning, while driving to work, that some hawthorn/?blackthorn is about to burst, and it is too cold for the bees to get out. OSR and 2012 all over again

 

[acabee]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
There would be a fair amount of forage around IF the bees would come out. Early cherries blooming. Lots of willow around. Whitethorns on the verge of it. I guess I was just 'hedging' (excuse pun) my bets if the forecasts for persistant cold weather are wrong (surely not!). I might go with the newspaper idea IF the hive seems full, but fully appreciate that this is unlikely given cold start to Spring.

Two big IFs in the above!

acabee

 

[enrico]

Blimey....I reckon we are a month behind you!

 

[acabee]

Local warming: because the prevailing winds come from Westminster? How far are you from the Welsh Assembly?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...Parliament-lose-7-191-year-wasted-energy.html

 

[oliver90owner]

Last year, I did just that - supered because we were away for over a week at the beginning of April. OSR was coming out in bloom.

When I got back, the weather was so cold and wet that I was unable to even get my car around the field for several weeks. They did nothing all season, just collecting enough for subsistence. The field has never really dried out since.

All you can do is assess just prior to going away and make a decision then and/or cross fingers. A shallow below the brood would give them space, but I somehow doubt a commercial with space in the brood box will be going by mid-April on the current showing - but things could easily change and the weather forecasts have been rubbish, so that is nothing to go on!

Might not even be any drone brood by then, on current form, so may not be a real issue.

 

[acabee]

Thanks o90o.
Did you put some newspaper between the super (assuming you put it on top) and the BB?

acabee

 

[beeno]

Hi,
Me thinking like ITMA survival not expansion. Supering in cold weather seems to have been a problem. Maybe we can have a lecture from someone who knows about beekeeping to avoid this in future.

 

[poshpikey]

blackthorn has been out for a while here also dandelions
not sure they will be bringing much in at the moment though!
quite a few new bees did hatch a few weeks back though

 

[BeeJayBee]

blackthorn has been out for a while here also dandelions

Lucky you. We're further east and so far, away from gardens, only wild plum in flower and no dandelions either.

 

[oliver90owner]

No, they needed some space for that week what with the OSR coming on strongly. Unfortunately the weather simply got in the way of any further expansion or honey collection for the next two months.

 

[acabee]

Thanks all for your replies.
Hive a tad light when hefting, but not too bad.
Quick look in/out today while the sun shone briefly and some flights...
Bees across 8 frames (but did not take out frames).
Fondant there 10 days ago now gone.
So plan before I go:
thin layer of fondant onto top bars
newspaper over
super on that.
cover board.
insulated roof.

unless someone points out the error of my ways... (don't be shy!)
acabee.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Surely you'll need the QX on otherwise the queen will try to move up when they break through....?

Also another idea if you reverse it - you have little bit more room for fondant (well on topspace hive's).

 

[acabee]

I'm concerned that putting in QE would mean Q could get separated if they cluster off somewhere in the super (though I know that would be unlikely if they have brood in the main box below.) Any laying in the super could be dealt with later.

Yes, good point about under-supering (contradiction in terms?). Might be the best way to go here as I don't want bees to move up into empty (mostly drawn) frames into a cold super unless they need it.

Life just seems to be about moving boxes...

acabee

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Sorry completely forgot about the cluster separation ignore my comment as its weather dependant!

 

[Mel]

Thanks for this thread, I'm in the same position of goind away on Tuesday for 10 days. I took a very speedy look at my strongest colony today and there seems to be one heck of a lot of bees, all looking very lively. This is a colony I was thinking of running on a double brood this year - I've never done that before, always found brood and a half fine (not to re-open the old debate!). So if I put on another brood box before I go away (maybe with newspaper beneath) they will have brood box, super and new brood box. A bit of a potential muddle, but I've given up on any idea of surplus spring honey this year so there should be enough time to sort out their accommodation before the hoped for build-up ahead of the lime flow third week in June. Well, that's the plan. reality may have other ideas..
Mel

 

[acabee]

Hi Mel I have commercial, so larger BB. I've decided (with some generous help from others on the forum) I'll under-super the BB while I'm away. That should provide sufficient space if needed without the upper BB freezing off.

Thanks HH - cold often freezes my brain too so no worries re: QE :-0

acabee