Supers Empty

[moby]

Is there any way I can encourage one of my hives to start using the super to store nectar/honey instead of the brood box....

The QE is the same one which I had used for the same hive last year...
The weather hasn't been great which has caused them to remain in the brood box but now that it is warmer still nothing


Any advice welcome

 

[theeggman]

Remove the QX until they are up in the super, it worked on ours.

Tim

 

[Bob Bee]

Guessing that the brood box is pretty full, therefore super added, try bruising some stores in the brood box ?.

 

[victor meldrew]

Oop north the main flow starts last week in June/first week in July ,seemingly irrespective of the Spring weather !! .
If the Queen still has room to lay in the brood box then the bees usually don't bother to shift it upstairs .
Some bees of course are eager to get it up there!! That is the way of it with bees
VM

 

[YorkshireBees]

Is the super full of foundation or drawn comb or mixed?

I had some problems last year encouraging bees into the super when there was only foundation. Now I have mainly drawn comb they are straight up into them in the majority of my hives, still a couple of hives lagging behind for some reason.

As per other answer, removed QX for a short time (if on foundation). Even if the queen lays a few eggs once they draw it out it will not take long for them to hatch once above the QX again.

I also tried a drop of Lemongrass oil last year but can't really say if that helped or not.

 

[itma]

Insulate above the super? Make sure the crown/feeder board holes are covered?
The colder it is, the less attractive to the bees ...

 

[Hebeegeebee]

The weather hasn't been great which has caused them to remain in the brood box but now that it is warmer still nothing

Maybe you've answered your own question?

 

[moby]

Thanks for all the suggestions it will give me something to ponder...

Things are getting pretty congested in the hives and they have built up nicely despite being too cold to start filling the supers the OSR in the next week or 2 will be coming to an end and field bean is coming into bloom in the next field.... thank you Mr Farmer

 

[Hebeegeebee]

My previous post was a bit flippant. As VM writes, sometimes bees push everything into the super, others - even the sister of an uppusher if there's such a word - will keep everything down in the brood chamber. If there's space and especially if there's drawn comb, they'll move into the super when they are ready.

 

[Davea]

As mentioned earlier-remove QE and spray super frames with sugar syrup.
Also bruise some stores in the brood box and they should move it up.
Give it a week or so then check if Q has been laying upstairs, then make sure she's down below and put ypur QE back on.