Ten seams of bee's. What next ?

[prana vallabha]

I inspected my hive yesterday and have ten seams of bee's and five frames of brood,last weeks inspection was eight seams of bee's and five frames of brood .
I use a national hive , i put a super on last week but it has no drawn out foundation as due to swarming last year i did not get that far . Bee's are in the super though .....

What would you more advanced bee keepers advise for my next move ....

many thanks in advance

 

[Swarm]

Still 5 frames of brood so too early to super, really.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The usual advice is to super when you have 7/8 solid frames of brood.
It's too cold for the bees to heat the extra space let alone draw the frames.
Take the super off and wait till the colony is bigger.
I live near you...weather forecast is dire for the the next ten days. I was considering whether I might have to give mine a little syrup.

 

[Chris B]

The super space is not just for honey but to provide space for the bees. 10 seams of bees isn't quite full but emerging brood will soon fill the hive to overflowing. And if bees aren't foraging the older bees won't die off as quickly.
Whatever you do leave that super on! Your volume of bees is more than capable of keeping it warm. If you take it away you risk pushing them towards swarming. You might even want to consider adding a 2nd super above a crownboard.

 

[itma]

Keep the super on.

Add insulation above the crownboard.

Take the QX out if it is in. Put it back once they have made "a good start" to drawing comb in the super.



Watch out for swarming.
Particularly if you have a lot of stores in the brood box ...

 

[prana vallabha]

i had the local bee inspector round last week to take a look over my hive and he recomended supering so the bee's had more room , i,e not just for honey storage plus i have insulation above also ......

 

[whoosling]

I also have a national very full of bees so a couple of days ago added a super to ease the situation, also found lots of drone brood and queen cups,all seemed to quieten down so have left well alone.

My super was all mostly drawn comb

 

[enrico]

Keep the super on.

Add insulation above the crownboard.

Take the QX out if it is in. Put it back once they have made "a good start" to drawing comb in the super.



Watch out for swarming.
Particularly if you have a lot of stores in the brood box ...

I agree, everything is happening in the hive now and lots of brood is emerging at once, the queen needs to know that there is room in there and if the weather is bad it is going to start getting quite full. I have added supers already. Normally I wouldn't do it with such small hives but my gut tells me that lots of bees and nectar should be arriving at once and room is going to be at a premium and more important than worrying about warmth!
E

 

[o.stjohn]

So what is "bee's" short for?

 

[mbc]

So what is "bee's" short for?

I think it might be short for "punctuation pedant"

 

[Tom Bick]

I inspected my hive yesterday and have ten seams of bee's and five frames of brood,last weeks inspection was eight seams of bee's and five frames of brood .
I use a national hive , i put a super on last week but it has no drawn out foundation as due to swarming last year i did not get that far . Bee's are in the super though .....

What would you more advanced bee keepers advise for my next move ....

many thanks in advance

What state were the other six frames in? or at least thats the question I would be asking myself, honey blocked or available for the queen to lay up.

Either way I think the super is a good thing.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So what is "bee's" short for?

beebuggeredifIamnotspendingafortuneforlittlereturnandhavingendlesssleeplessnights!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And talking of wet weekends are either of you (prana,Erica) going to the teifiside BKA sale on Saturday? I may be going but I'll be keeping the boot locked this time in case some practical joker dumps another box of bees in it!!

 

[derekm]

The usual advice is to super when you have 7/8 solid frames of brood.
It's too cold for the bees to heat the extra space let alone draw the frames.
Take the super off and wait till the colony is bigger.
I live near you...weather forecast is dire for the the next ten days. I was considering whether I might have to give mine a little syrup.

Space doesnt need extra heat its surface area... adding a super adds extra surface area above the brood. That will take extra watts from thebees or more clustering to maintain temperature of thebrood. Insulate the super to reduce the cooling effect of the extra surface area.

 

[ashleybee]

beebuggeredifIamnotspendingafortuneforlittlereturnandhavingendlesssleeplessnights!

I just covered my lap top with tea. That's bloody funny.
AB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Space doesnt need extra heat its surface area... adding a super adds extra surface area above the brood. That will take extra watts from thebees or more clustering to maintain temperature of thebrood. Insulate the super to reduce the cooling effect of the extra surface area.

So you're saying that if you insulate the super it takes less energy to heat.
But is it enough just to put extra kingspan on top or do you insulate the sides as well.

Sorry daft question really but looking at everybody's replies I'm wondering whether I should be supering. One box is looking full of nectar and I replaced one frame with an empty drawn one. It looks like the bees will largely be confined to home for the next week eating all those stores.

 

[Erichalfbee]

And talking of wet weekends are either of you (prana,Erica) going to the teifiside BKA sale on Saturday? I may be going but I'll be keeping the boot locked this time in case some practical joker dumps another box of bees in it!!

I daren't
I haven't got a friendly relative to hide the kit

 

[Tom Bick]

Sorry daft question really but looking at everybody's replies I'm wondering whether I should be supering. One box is looking full of nectar and I replaced one frame with an empty drawn one. It looks like the bees will largely be confined to home for the next week eating all those stores.

I would get one on if I was you, better to be a bit early rather than late.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I daren't
I haven't got a friendly relative to hide the kit

Well, SWMBO has gone away to her friend in Provence so being home alone, a nice little spin seems on the cards