Too much honey down below!

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merylvingien

Field Bee
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
536
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Location
Near Andover Hampshire
Hive Type
Commercial
Number of Hives
7
Hi Folks, been a while since i had time to look on here, been killing plenty of wasps.

Had a look through my hive at the top of my garden yesterday, it has had a super on for about 3 weeks now. They are starting to draw out the super, but not complete yet.
However there is plenty of honey stored in the brood frames downstairs with the outer frames being all honey stores.
I have read on here that uncapping some of this may prompt them to move it into the super?
So on one frame i ran the hive tool across the capped honey, basicly just scratching some of the cell cappings.
Is this enough to encourage them to draw out the rest of the super frames and shift the honey up? Or do i need to do something else?

Many thanks for replies in advance.
 
I tried this a number of times to try and get them to move up into a super and start drawing it out. If the frames had been drawn comb they probably would have moved up but as it was they just tidied it up and capped it over again. Then they put so much honey in the brood box that the queen had no room to lay and caused them to swarm.
I missed the queen leaving but they have now re-queened themselves and she has just started laying. I've bought another hive recently and it came with one super of honey so I'm hoping that a few of these drawn frames will stop all this happening next year.
So in answer to your question....Yes it should work, but as with everything in beekeeping, there are no guarantees:reddevil:
 
i just did an inspection today and bruised one of my full frames of stores in the brood box and moved it in to the middle of the brood hoping they will move this up and then it can become brood space.

i also removed the Q excluder, i have made up my mind to try and over winter on brood and a half if possible.
 
Hi trapper.
It is more than normal that bees store honey into brood box, but that is not the
way how to get it away from the. Normal system is that you lift the frame over the excluder or let it be there so long that you extract more honey.
 
Hi Finman, trouble is, the frames i have in the brood box are larger than the ones in the super, so it is impossible to fit the brood frames above the excluder...
 
Hi Finman, trouble is, the frames i have in the brood box are larger than the ones in the super, so it is impossible to fit the brood frames above the excluder...

Guess thats 1 up for rose (osb) hives then (and all other 1 size box configs). Been reading the old thread, 'lets slag off new ideas'. :.)
 
Been reading the old thread, 'lets slag off new ideas'. :.)

The most expensive single item was, and still is, my extractor.

I have asked, and never received a reply, as to the use of my nine frame radial extractor with these (deeper than shallow National) frames. Have assumed they would have to be extracted tangentially (I have not bothered to check further), or I am confident the guy would have responded, if the reply were positive.

Might just check it out one day but I considered the system and that appeared to be the real 'downer' as far as I was concerned at the time.

Maybe Fenman can enlighten us now he has changed to that system. I will e-mail or PM him.

Regards, RAB
 
,
move honey frames over the excluder amd empty combs down to queen to lay.

Doesn't work in the UK. We tend to used silly little supers rendering frames incompatible :hat:

John Wilkinson
 
Doesn't work in the UK. We tend to used silly little supers rendering frames incompatible :hat:

John Wilkinson

DO SOMETHING TO IST AND STOP STUPID DOING!!!! Brood and half! Nonsence!

When brood frames and super frames are changeable, many things go better. And that exluder is everywhere.
 
[B
Maybe Fenman can enlighten us now he has changed to that system. I will e-mail or PM him.

Regards, RAB


I know how to do it because I do it all the time.

Look, if bees must take off the capped honey and move it to another place and capp it, it needs 25% of honey for that process.

This summer my hives are full of honey. Brood boxes are very full of capped honey. What I do? - I pick the honey frames and lift them upp if I do not extract them. Then I give extracted new frames into brood boxes that they have 2 boxes space to lay.


I use to give granulated honey frames between brood frames that bees clean the frame. - But new honey, never.

.
 
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Many use excluder so that in the beginning and in the middle of season they have no excluder and when flow is ammost over, they put excluder, give to the queen a box of empty combs. Now all honey and brood are over the excluder. New winterbees will born under exluder. Bees emerge over the excluder and you can extract the frames.

I have tried this but winter cluster will be smaller than without excluder.

I let emerge almost all brood before I take off the last honey and then fast feeding.

**************

When I give 2 brood box for winter bee rearing, there must be lots of pollen. It is pollen which will be transformed to winter bees.

.
 
brood/super frames problem

the simple solution is to put 2 supers on top - leave gaps in bottom layer for each full brood frame you have - then just slot the frames into the corresponding positions in upper super.

just need to remember to take these frames out before you take super off OR put super down on another empty super when inspecting.
 
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