When to put supers on?

[Hebeegeebee]

If you are on a field of just blooming OSR then you have a golden opportunity to get plenty of foundation drawn.

Unless it's too cold for the OSR to yield - as I have now!

 

[tonyofarr]

A common statement is when you see Dandelions out in force put the supers on.

I went to check the bees at one of my apiaries and struggled to get the roof off a hive, when i finally managed to prise it off it was full of wild comb that was filled with dandelion honey so I am now getting out supers for my stronger colonies.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

my garden hives have 2-3 frames BIa and no supers.....2.5 miles away my apiary in a wooded area has 6-8 frames BIA in some and storing nectar in recently emerged worker cells in middle of brood frames so i did add some supers there and waiting for weather to warm before further action....today the wooded area is a frenzy again as full sun and no wind and close forage

 

[oliver90owner]

And I didn't know drawn comb would be better.

How can that be?

Common statements can be made by anyone, even if they have a blindfold on!

 

[Amari]

Unless it's too cold for the OSR to yield - as I have now!

The OSR has been out more than a week but too cold and windy here too. Bees are hardly poking their noses out of the hives and the few that are returning have no pollen.
I seem to remember reading that OSR only yields if T > mid teens C.

 

[Antipodes]

The OSR has been out more than a week but too cold and windy here too. Bees are hardly poking their noses out of the hives and the few that are returning have no pollen.
I seem to remember reading that OSR only yields if T > mid teens C.

I wonder, does the plant accumulate the nectar and not reabsorb the accumulated nectar sugar?

 

[Amari]

I wonder, does the plant accumulate the nectar and not reabsorb the accumulated nectar sugar?

I guess the plant ceases nectar production in cold weather? Nectar = sugar synthesised from CO2 & H2O - probably temperature sensitive?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

the next question for me is when do people remove entrance blocks

just seen a strong colony with quite a cloud of bees queuing to get in, currently it has a reduced entrance of a couple of inches wide

 

[Antipodes]

I guess the plant ceases nectar production in cold weather? Nectar = sugar synthesised from CO2 & H2O - probably temperature sensitive?

I guess it depends on the plant, but I know sometimes nectar production is independent of temperature, humidity etc.

 

[Finman]

Adding more space to the hive, is it another brood or super, depends on the amount of bees.
When bees burst out from entrance, the it is better add boath, brood and super at same time.

Number of brood tells that after a week you must add a box again, or two boxes.

I have never looked the number of brood frames when I add super.

If you do not know, when to add the box, put it under the brood, and it cannot go wrong. Heat of the brood will be stored in upstairs. It is a way to see, how much the queen can lay.

My queens are allowed to lay everywhere. Main thing is, that it lays a lot. If she lays only one box, she must go.

It is really strange how difficult it is to the English beekeepers to use douple broodboxes. If two is too much, then move the place of excluder.

 

[Boston Bees]

the next question for me is when do people remove entrance blocks

just seen a strong colony with quite a cloud of bees queuing to get in, currently it has a reduced entrance of a couple of inches wide

My hive entrances never get larger than 3 inches or so.

My Paynes hives keep their reducers in all year, for example (reduced further in winter)

They are now all at their summer width.

 

[Finman]

I guess it depends on the plant, but I know sometimes nectar production is independent of temperature, humidity etc.

I know very well, that honey flow is dependent on weather temperature.

One thing is that foraging needs over 20 C temps, that bees can work effectively.

If the day temp is 18C, it means that bees have only 2-3 working hours, and a good flow needs at least 8 hours warm.

Of course bees can fly at 10C, but you do not get that way 100 kg honey per hive.

 

[Finman]

My hive entrances never get larger than 3 inches or so.

My Paynes hives keep their reducers in all year, for example (reduced further in winter)

They are now all at their summer width.

I look from the number of ventilating bees, how much the entrance must be open.

 

[Curly green finger's]

My hive entrances never get larger than 3 inches or so.

My Paynes hives keep their reducers in all year, for example (reduced further in winter)

They are now all at their summer width.

I pretty much leave mine in all year and they are 100mm x 8mm.
If there is a really good flow on mainly in the summer I take the block out and sometimes have a upper entrance, but flow finishes entrance reduced.

 

[Amari]

My hive entrances never get larger than 3 inches or so.
My Paynes hives keep their reducers in all year, for example (reduced further in winter)
They are now all at their summer width.

I permanently reduce the width of the entrance slit to my under-floor entrances

 

[user 819]

the next question for me is when do people remove entrance blocks

just seen a strong colony with quite a cloud of bees queuing to get in, currently it has a reduced entrance of a couple of inches wide

Not every one uses them, I don't though like me I expect many others use slit entrances of 8 - 9 mm only.

 

[Nannysbees]

the next question for me is when do people remove entrance blocks

just seen a strong colony with quite a cloud of bees queuing to get in, currently it has a reduced entrance of a couple of inches wide

We have changed ours from the smallest of entrances to the largest but we put in a block so it's not fully open yet

 

[bobba]

My Buckfast hive needed more space than a single brood a couple of weeks back. I took advice from people here, added another brood box but didn’t want to just double the space right away and so added 50mm kingspan dummy boards and positioned the nest in the middle of both boxes (with the capped in the bottom box as much as I could). I’ll take out the dummy boards, fill the gaps with foundation and super once the weather warms up again. Controlled expansion + a bit of insulation at the sides seems to have worked for me at this time of year, although like you I’m a beginner (not quite 2 years completed) and am trying to make the best judgements I can in circumstances I’ve not experienced before.

Its tough as a beginner, I stress and worry about all my judgements, even little things. I have a tendency to over think things too, witch dose not always work well with this hobby.

Like you I had Buckfast, but mine are all Mongrel Buckfast now or Muckfast as I call them.

I have thick insulation on the tops of my hives and was thinking of putting the bottom bards in if I am concerned its getting too cool after adding space. I have seen how some people make insulated outer covers to overwinter. I was pondering copying that principle and poping some bubble wrap around the hives until the weather improves. Mostly around the top 1/2s.

However I like your initiative approach. I think your insulation/dummy's are a great idea. I was told I was reinventing the wheal recently in another thread for daring to try something new. But I bet if some of the famous keepers from back in the day had King-span, they would have found uses for it.

A friend at work that used to keep bees suggested putting some wooden dummys in a super to reduce the weight. I may actually put her and your ideas together and make up some king-span super-insulation/dummy's. So If its cool when the supers need to go on, like this year, I can use them on the ends, then swap them out when it warms up.

They have bee added to the list!

 

[bobba]

Of course it does - but the guide is the number of frames of brood not bees

I think that's partly what has caused my confusion, some people talk frames of bees, some frames of brood.

Hopefully its something I will get better at with time. I feel I am better at it than I was this time last year at least.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Then there’s frames of brood or brood on frames.