Winter prep

[nickysolar]

I have a united hive consisting two broods and two supers. one super is almost empty and i will remove this but the other is full and i plan to leave as food stores for them. Ive heard conflicting advice over where to place this super - under or above the brood?

 

[B+.]

Ive heard conflicting advice over where to place this super - under or above the brood?

If it is sealed, leave it ontop. If it is unsealed, place it under the brood nest and they will move it up.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If it is sealed, leave it ontop. If it is unsealed, place it under the brood nest and they will move it up.

 

[nickysolar]

thanks

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have a united hive consisting two broods and two supers. one super is almost empty and i will remove this but the other is full and i plan to leave as food stores for them. Ive heard conflicting advice over where to place this super - under or above the brood?

What do you want to end up with when spring arrives? Also remember any queen excluder should be removed for the winter.
If you place the super above the brood box, come spring the likely scenario is brood in the higher parts of the space ie both super and brood box. If the super is below and you catch it in time any brood will most likely be only in the brood box and you can remove the empty super (nadir) for use above a qe in the normal way when the colony expands and the space is needed.
If you plan to run brood and a half leaving it above will work.

 

[nickysolar]

What do you want to end up with when spring arrives? Also remember any queen excluder should be removed for the winter.
If you place the super above the brood box, come spring the likely scenario is brood in the higher parts of the space ie both super and brood box. If the super is below and you catch it in time any brood will most likely be only in the brood box and you can remove the empty super (nadir) for use above a qe in the normal way when the colony expands and the space is needed.
If you plan to run brood and a half leaving it above will work.

This was my thinking - remove the super in the spring brood free. Many Thanks!

 

[danthehat]

There is something that puzzles me about this method please? If we leave a super below the brood and feed through the winter. I guess this means that there is a chance that sugar syrup and fondant gets stored in the super a bit?

So next season when the super is placed back on top i assume this syrup and fondant has found its way into next seasons honey production. Is this normal? ok to sell etc? Or is this batch considered not real honey anymore?

dan

 

[Bearhouse]

There is something that puzzles me about this method please? If we leave a super below the brood and feed through the winter. I guess this means that there is a chance that sugar syrup and fondant gets stored in the super a bit?

So next season when the super is placed back on top i assume this syrup and fondant has found its way into next seasons honey production. Is this normal? ok to sell etc? Or is this batch considered not real honey anymore?

dan

I think the theory is that they eat stores and work their way up. So if the super is on the bottom, they'll empty that first over the winter, then work their way up into the stores in the brood box. Super will then be empty in the spring and you can remove it.

 

[chrisb]

I think the theory is that they eat stores and work their way up. So if the super is on the bottom, they'll empty that first over the winter, then work their way up into the stores in the brood box. Super will then be empty in the spring and you can remove it.

 

[B+.]

There is something that puzzles me about this method please? If we leave a super below the brood and feed through the winter. I guess this means that there is a chance that sugar syrup and fondant gets stored in the super a bit?

The natural tendency of honeybees is to place their honey stores above their brood nest. Since heat rises, this is a very good place for it and, in winter, it allows the bees to move into the warmest part of the hive and consume the stores that they put away for that time of year.
This downward pressure could theoretically force the queen to lay in a super placed beneath the brood box although the queen also eases off on her egg laying so there is really very little chance of it happening. If there is a super of open nectar below the brood box, they will move it up and this empty super will provide some distance above the frost layer next to the ground over winter (always assuming we get a winter this year) so the bees aren't sitting in a frost pocket. I use double Langstroth (poly) deeps for much the same reason.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I never put a full super under; just the unextractable uncapped frames. The bees move all that up into the brood box and it becomes part of winter stores. Bees don't like their honey underneath them. It will be empty within days of being nadired but I leave it till spring. If I had a full super to leave it would go on top.

 

[danthehat]

Thanks for your replies. Much appreciated. I have a new connundrum please.

I have ended up with just 5 uncapped frames of honey that I plan to give to the girls in a super below the broodbox and leave this over winter.

Is it okay to leave this super with only 5 frames. Or should I fill the super with empty frames? My gut feel is that leaving open space is not a good idea and that the empty frames will provide a little more protection from the cold.

Dan

 

[B+.]

Is it okay to leave this super with only 5 frames. Or should I fill the super with empty frames?

Hi Dan

Its not really important since they will move the honey up off those combs and seal it above them. It just becomes a dead space that lifts them above the cold air of the ground.
If you are using entrance blocks, the draft will be minimal anyway. You just need to be sure that you don't seal a mouse in over winter as this will make a mess of your combs.

 

[danthehat]

ok great. thank you all.

D