Supering

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mocko

New Bee
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
71
Reaction score
0
Location
Manchester UK
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
4
Do all supers need to be removed before winter or is it true that you need to leave at least one super on top of the brood box for the bees? Does this also depend on stores already present in the brood box too?

Thanks :)
 
Depends on how big your colony is and how thrifty your bees are.

I always leave the bees with a super over winter as in my experience they need it.
I have done that with all sorts of hive types, not just National.
I leave it under the BB and remove it in early spring before there starts to be any serious brood.
 
I do the same as the unclothed apiarist!


So far, I haven't lost a colony through the winter - now if only I could stop them swarming in the summer!
 
My bees don't need any more stores on top of a full National Jumbo.

Some around here over-winter on a single deep; I always left them a super as well. Further north one goes, the more stores they are likely to consume in the cold months(colder and more of them?).

There are things to consider such as whether this 'extra super' is going to be proper honey or sugar syrup and how you are going to make sure, if sugar syrup, that it is not left in the super, next season.

Feeding fondant is another option, if hefting indicates they are low on stores later in the winter or early in the spring. Remember you will want the brood box partly empty for brooding in the spring.

So there are plenty of options and they all depend on lots of possible variables. For instance some strains of bee carry on producing brood long after others have 'shut up shop' for winter. They might starve themselves by January.

As is always the case, observation and being ready to act are the key points with beekeping. Experience with your particular bees/ hives/location will come in time.

BTW, don't forget to remove any queen excluders fitted, for the winter months.

RAB
 
Its really up to you. I try and leave at least a brood and one super to overwinter. After all they have collected the stuff so I think they should at least have the pleasure of some of their own stores! What I do then is to put on a roof with a feeder hole over that and add one or two drawn supers on top of that. Reason? I have no real room to store all my supers and while they are on the hive it seems to stop mice and wax moth overwintering and also stops the wax from going mouldy. (Strap them down though!!!)
While I am on the subject I have also found that if you are unsure whether to add another super during a nectar flow then add a roof with a hole between the two supers. This seems to stop the bees funneling up the middle but if they fill the bottom super they will move on into the one above the roof!
Hope this helps
E
 

Latest posts

Back
Top