Wintering with a super- Have I got it yet?

[Skyhook]

Originally Posted by Hebeegeebee
With super above brood and no queen excluder you will probably finish up with brood in the super in the Spring... In late summer, put super under brood chamber; no q/ex. Bees stay in brood chamber as it's warmer. (Heat rises). Plenty of stores for bees. In Spring, remove empty super from underneath before the queen starts to lay in it... I've done this the past 2 years and the underneath supers are empty and there is sufficient stores around the brood area once the super has been removed.

Taken me a week to think about this. See if I've got it right. If I put a super under the brood frame, they will then think it's the bottom of the brood frame, start adding brood down there, then Fill the brood box with stores. When winter comes they will cluster in the super, using that first and eating all the syrup. By the end of winter they will have worked their way back up into the brood box leaving the empty super underneath which I can then remove clean for re-use. Is that how it works?

I'm not really thick, I just think slowly.

 

[SimonB]

I *think* what he's saying is that until winter and the queen stopping laying she will continue to lay brood only in the upper brood box as it's warmer. The stores in the super below will get used up over winter, so at no point is the super ever used for brood and remains clean from brood debris.

 

[Finman]

.
I can only say that stupid playing. I have explained it several times.

 

[Mosquito]

A few years ago, In 1 hive I left a super above the brood and the other hive under the brood.
When it came to spring I found brood under the brood box but not above the brood box.
I did end up having brood above the brood box, because when I put the Q/E I trapping the queen in the super.

 

[Heather]

keep it small, keep it warm.

 

[Mike a]

keep it small, keep it warm.

 

[Skyhook]

keep it small, keep it warm.

The clever money seems to be with you. My concern is that, on the figures given, a standard brood box appears to be exactly big enough to hold sufficient stores- I'm trying to build in a safety margin, but maybe I'm just complicating things.

My wife says I think too much.

 

[oliver90owner]

'Sufficient' is subjective and also depends on your location, the type of hive and it's insulation value along with the topography of your site and maybe other factors.

I always reckon that a brood is enough for virtually all normal scenarios. That is a 14 x 12 brood, of course. I was wondering where the bees were going to be brooding (up towards the time of clustering) if a standard brood is enough. A lot of people were having to feed fondant last winter; mine did not need it.

Regards, RAB

 

[Skyhook]

I always reckon that a brood is enough for virtually all normal scenarios. That is a 14 x 12 brood, of course. I was wondering where the bees were going to be brooding (up towards the time of clustering) if a standard brood is enough.
Regards, RAB

Aye, there's the rub. They're in a standard national BB. !4 x 12 next year, but not yet.

 

[Black Comb]

I used the "super under " method on my 2 hives last winter and it worked fine.

However, the super was above until it was nearly filled and the I moved it under (around Oct I seem to remember) with no queen excluder.