Where to put the APILIFE VAR

[Martin921]

I expect the answers obvious but then I am just a confused Newbie.

So I have removed the top super and extracted a few pounds of honey which was a bonus as I wasn't expecting any in the first year.

I now have the brood box with a QE on top and then the super full of winter feed honey for bees.

Where do I put the APILIFE VAR blocks? On top of the honey super or the brood box. If on top of the brood box I guess I will need to move the QE at this time?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards, Martin.

 

[georgia b]

Hi Martin,

About having the supers on, I'd be dubious about using them again next year for honey due to traces of thymol in them. You can always take them off whilst your treating and then put them back on once you've finished. And if you put them back on, to use a stores throughout the winter, remember to take the queen excluder off, because if the bees move up for food and the queen excluder is still on the queen is unable to move up with the cluster and you could lose your queen.
Back to your question, you'd put the ApiLife Var strip on top of the brood box with a crownboard on top.

Hope this is helpful,
Georgia

 

[Erichalfbee]

Are there stores in the brood box?
I suspect there are.
SO
Clear the super and take it and the excluder away.
I divide each week's treatment into four and put a piece in each corner of the brood box.
Shut off the OMF if you have one.
Put the super back after you have finished

 

[Chris B]

Martin,
Why would you want to leave a full super of honey on? Things will get messy. Take it away, extract, and feed the bees.
If you leave a super you'll have to remove the queen excluder. Then it will inevitably get used by the queen and probably tainted with thymol. You may also need to supplementary feed anyway so it will also contain syrup. That super will become a permanent part of your brood nest, in which case why not have a deeper hive in the first place?

 

[enrico]

Hi, this is what I would do, remove bees from super, remove super, treat, return super UNDER bb. They will fill bb with stores from super as they need them, any extra gets left in the super which they will use first. In EARLY spring gently lift bb and remove super which will be empty and untainted and use again as super on top when needed. To get through the winter a full bb of honey is enough and they will get that from stores you already have and the stores in the super. As winter progresses they move up leaving the super empty. Never use a QE in winter
E

 

[Chris B]

Putting a super under the BB is fine if you simply want it cleared in the spring. But if you are relying on it as winter stores it's a mistake. The reason being you risk isolation starvation with a big gap between the stores at the bottom of the hive and top of the hive. A full National super might only contain 25lb of honey which is not enough. You need something like 40lb at the end of September. There will also be a net weight loss between now and end of September without feeding.

 

[mbc]

Martin,
Why would you want to leave a full super of honey on? Things will get messy. Take it away, extract, and feed the bees.
If you leave a super you'll have to remove the queen excluder. Then it will inevitably get used by the queen and probably tainted with thymol. You may also need to supplementary feed anyway so it will also contain syrup. That super will become a permanent part of your brood nest, in which case why not have a deeper hive in the first place?

Putting a super under the BB is fine if you simply want it cleared in the spring. But if you are relying on it as winter stores it's a mistake. The reason being you risk isolation starvation with a big gap between the stores at the bottom of the hive and top of the hive. A full National super might only contain 25lb of honey which is not enough. You need something like 40lb at the end of September. There will also be a net weight loss between now and end of September without feeding.

Spot on ! there is too much of this fluffy "I'll be a really nice person and leave the bees a super of honey". Our actions(or inn-actions) as beekeepers should take into account the biology of these creatures and the practicalities of how to efficiently manage our bees for their benefit and ours.
It is much simpler, and better for the bees in the long run, if we take their honey, treat for varroa and feed, keeping the empty supers safe and ready for the new season.

 

[enrico]

Putting a super under the BB is fine if you simply want it cleared in the spring. But if you are relying on it as winter stores it's a mistake. The reason being you risk isolation starvation with a big gap between the stores at the bottom of the hive and top of the hive. A full National super might only contain 25lb of honey which is not enough. You need something like 40lb at the end of September. There will also be a net weight loss between now and end of September without feeding.

I have never had that problem, in fact the bees move the honey up into the bb and usually leave my supers clean by the end of autumn, but .... Horses for courses! Have you actually had this isolatin problem on adding a super underneath or is that just a 'what might happen' scenario? Just wondered
E

 

[Martin921]

So as usual with beekeeping the options are varied and opinions divided.

All I need to do now is to decide which advice to follow.

 

[Chris B]

I have never had that problem, in fact the bees move the honey up into the bb and usually leave my supers clean by the end of autumn, but .... Horses for courses! Have you actually had this isolatin problem on adding a super underneath or is that just a 'what might happen' scenario? Just wondered
E

I've had isolation starvation for sure but never as a result of putting a super under the hive as that isn't what I do. IF the bees do manage to consolidate their stores after the super is returned then fine but they aren't at all keen to shift capped stores from what I've seen. Your original post admits it too ("They will fill bb with stores from super as they need them, any extra gets left in the super which they will use first"). You're taking risks with your bees and so far you've been lucky. How many hives/winters has this worked for you?

 

[Chris B]

So as usual with beekeeping the options are varied and opinions divided.

All I need to do now is to decide which advice to follow.

Please take Enrico's advice. I wish everyone would, then there would be much less honey around and mine would be worth more. Higher winter losses too pushing up the value of my nucs and packages in the spring. I might even sell a few in the autumn to replace colonies that starve during their varroa treatment (the stronger the colony, the greater the risk as they'll have little or nothing stored in the bb).