Too late to remove supers

[SixFooter]

I left a super on a colony that was not growing very well and there are now 4 or 5 capped frames of honey in it. There is lots of honey in the BB. Is it too late to remove the super and extract from the frames? Or is it better to leave the super on and take an early crop in spring.

 

[aberreef]

Provided they have plenty of stores in the brood box I'd remove the super and take the sealed frames for myself. Do it now before the weather gets much colder to save them from having to heat the unneeded space.

You could also put the super under the BB without a queen excluder but by the sounds of it I don't think they need the extra room.

 

[Skyhook]

Provided they have plenty of stores in the brood box I'd remove the super and take the sealed frames for myself. Do it now before the weather gets much colder to save them from having to heat the unneeded space.

You could also put the super under the BB without a queen excluder but by the sounds of it I don't think they need the extra room.

Spot on.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Provided they have plenty of stores in the brood box I'd remove the super and take the sealed frames for myself. Do it now before the weather gets much colder to save them from having to heat the unneeded space.

too much space for them to heat is worse almost than not enough stores. Reduce it down to a single brood and get some insulation on top - you say they're 'not growing very well' how many frames are they on?

 

[sharonh]

I left a super on a colony that was not growing very well and there are now 4 or 5 capped frames of honey in it. There is lots of honey in the BB. Is it too late to remove the super and extract from the frames? Or is it better to leave the super on and take an early crop in spring.

If your bees have been storing from the ivy flow, it's not great for extracting for yourself .
I would take of the super and keep it incase they need it again.

 

[enrico]

Move it under the bb with no queen excluder. They will use that first, in the spring put it back on top, if there is too much honey in the bb they will move the honey back up into the super where it will later be extracted by you. If they need it during the winter it will all be gone. I feel good giving them their own spoils for winter!
E

 

[Skyhook]

Move it under the bb with no queen excluder. They will use that first, in the spring put it back on top, if there is too much honey in the bb they will move the honey back up into the super where it will later be extracted by you. If they need it during the winter it will all be gone. I feel good giving them their own spoils for winter!
E

I would be cautious about doing that with a small colony. They will start to cluster from the bottom, and thus have to heat an entire empty brood box. NO VAIN SPACE!!!


.

 

[enrico]

Fair comment skyhook. I agree
E

 

[richardbees]

I left a super on a colony that was not growing very well

I'd have thought a small colony won't be able to cope with all that space so it's best to remove the super.

 

[itma]

Enrico - the OP reports most frames are capped honey.
Having put the shallow below the existing brood, would you bruise the cappings to get them to move it up, or simply leave alone and let them start there with the winter cluster, on the lowest stores.

 

[enrico]

In my experience they move honey up, capped or not, I put a full super of capped under a brood box two weeks ago, all in the bb now!

 

[mbc]

I left a super on a colony that was not growing very well

I'd have thought a small colony won't be able to cope with all that space so it's best to remove the super.

Not that small if its half filled a super late on.
My answer would be its only too late to harvest supers if varroa treatments have spoilt the honey or the bees have eaten it all, even crystalised combs can be harvested if you're desperate.

 

[Walrus]

I have done the under supering with success but I have 14x12s. Many systems (not just overseas) have bees going into winter with 2 brood boxes (honey on top).
http://www.cheshire-bka.co.uk/Articles/CheshireSystemOfBeekeeping.php

If it is well insulated I'm not sure it would be so terrible to leave the super where it is. If they are really small (smaller than one national box) they could go in a poly nuc. Also, if they are small maybe there is something wrong?

 

[itma]

In my experience they move honey up, capped or not, I put a full super of capped under a brood box two weeks ago, all in the bb now!

Thanks - having been told that bees had little interest in moving *capped* stores within their hive, I've always 'bruised' anything capped that *I* wanted shifted.
Good to know its not (always) strictly necessary.

 

[Swarm]

It certainly isn't when the super is placed under the brood chamber. The stores are in the wrong place and the bees will quickly rearrange it.
If I leave a super these days it's always under as whenever I've left it on top it is either untouched or queenie begins brooding up there. Underneath it's always clean.

 

[richardbees]

mbc

Not that small if its half filled a super late on.

My thinking is that there's going to be a lot of empty space in the hive with a partially filled super on top of a partially filled BB. One possibility would have been to rearrange the frames so they're at the end of each boxes and put on dummy boards.....however it's a bit late now

It might not be the beginning of Winter but it's definitely the end of Summer!

B

 

[SixFooter]

Thanks all.
Maybe I should have been more specific than didnt grow well and said wasnt growing very well early on and didnt collect much honey until the balsam started. The BB is packed with honey now and I am sure the honey in the super is surplus to requirements. I decided to take it off and just store it rather than extract it.