Under or over

[Tindog]

I guess there will be divided opinions regarding this but when overwintering using a super of honey is the consensus that the super should be placed above or below the brood box and your reasons why please?
Thanks
Andy

 

[Finman]

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Natural order in the hive is important, because bees instincts follow that order.

In summer bees store honey up and brood area goes down.
Bees start over wintering from place, where the brood area was last. Then cluster eates honey and rise upwards during winter.

First of all, the brood area should be down, when you start feeding in autumn.
Bees cap the winter from up. If you have ready capped food, its place is up.

If you put the super down, it is then under the brood. Cluster goes up and does not know that store is under.

If you believe that bees tear down cappings down, it makes no sense to do that ready winter stores. If bees remove the store, they use 1/4 out of store energy in removing and restoring.

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[Wingy]

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Natural order in the hive is important, because bees instincts follow that order.

In summer bees store honey up and brood area goes down.
Bees start over wintering from place, where the brood area was last. Then cluster eates honey and rise upwards during winter.

First of all, the brood area should be down, when you start feeding in autumn.
Bees cap the winter from up. If you have ready capped food, its place is up.

If you put the super down, it is then under the brood. Cluster goes up and does not know that store is under.

If you believe that bees tear down cappings down, it makes no sense to do that ready winter stores. If bees remove the store, they use 1/4 out of store energy in removing and restoring.

I’m with Finnman on this one, super above brood box for same reasons. That’s how my 3 hives will be going in to winter.

 

[enrico]

I doubt it will be divided opinion
Capped stores on top. If you move them under they will just move them back up again so why bother.
E

 

[For want of a better word]

I do not understand why a super of honey is being put onto a colony... is it to feed it?
Placed above the brood where the bees would have it will give them stores for the Winter, but will leave you with brood +1/2 on the Spring... which young master Basterfield and others seem to think is not a good idea!

Moving a full super of honey below the brood does not make sense... however some do do this with a box that has some uncapped stores that is just not worth the effort of taking back to the extracting room.

Most overwinter on a single brood box and feed around 18 liters of 2:1 sugar syrup in the Autumn... having "stolen" all of the bees honey!!!

Yeghes da

 

[Etton]

I move below (nadir), it allows the super to be cleared out and ready for next year. Prevents brood being laid in super comer spring, when natural order is reversed and Q starts laying in top box.

 

[For want of a better word]

I move below (nadir), it allows the super to be cleared out and ready for next year. Prevents brood being laid in super comer spring, when natural order is reversed and Q starts laying in top box.

You put a full super of honey below the brood box?

That's £200 worth of honey... £10 worth of sugar feed would make more economic sense?

mytten da

 

[Finman]

I move below (nadir), it allows the super to be cleared out and ready for next year. Prevents brood being laid in super comer spring, when natural order is reversed and Q starts laying in top box.

You do totally wrong in that. Totally.

When you use super as brood box, nothing goes wrong. It is just brood and half system. When the colony has expanded brooding to lower brood box, then swap the the lown box under the brood box. Bees eate old honey away and fill the combs with brood.

When joney box is full of brood, put it over the excluder. Brood emerge and it is super for honey again.

I use honey frames as brood frames, and brood frames for honey. Important is that do no make head ache about this to you.

I have colonies too just now, which have only super/honey frames. No problem and no extra pain.
.

 

[For want of a better word]

You do totally wrong in that. Totally.

When you use super as brood box, nothing goes wrong. It is just brood and half system. When the colony has expanded brooding to lower brood box, then swap the the lown box under the brood box. Bees eate old honey away and fill the combs with brood.

When joney box is full of brood, put it over the excluder. Brood emerge and it is super for honey again.

I use honey frames as brood frames, and brood frames for honey. Important is that do no make head ache about this to you.

I have colonies too just now, which have only super/honey frames. No problem and no extra pain.
.

The Finnish OSB system!

Mytten da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

|If the super is full of capped honey - take it off, extract it and feed the bees sugar syrup (that's the sensible thing to do) if you have a super with a bit of uncapped/unripe honey, nadir (put it below) the box and leave the bees rearrange everything to their satisfaction - this will also give the bees a bit of extra space as they store their winter stores above the brood and move down to make room for it.
Heard of some fool on the dark side who was planning on taking off a super of honey, feeding the bees syrup to keep them alive then putting the honey back on for winter feeding, and was then wingeing that the bees had already started eating the honey before he had the chance to do this!!!!

 

[madasafish]

I move below (nadir), it allows the super to be cleared out and ready for next year. Prevents brood being laid in super comer spring, when natural order is reversed and Q starts laying in top box.

+1


I find by spring my nadired supers are empty. And my bees have never suffered from starvation in winter. And it reduces wind effect on the brood nest (mine are on stands 40cm from the ground in a very windy area.)

I don't want brood in supers..

 

[Finman]

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One way is let bees clean the frames next summer and do not put the honey into the hive.

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[Finman]

+1


I find by spring my nadired supers are empty. And my bees have never suffered from starvation in winter. And it reduces wind effect on the brood nest (mine are on stands 40cm from the ground in a very windy area.)

I don't want brood in supers..

Very strange explanations.

They use to eate honey during winter if you give honey as winter food.
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