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The ideal time to add a super is during periods of natural population growth (typically, the spring), before or during a honey flow (spring or summer), or during periods of swarming (again, typically the spring). Before adding a super, beekeepers often use a standard rule of thumb, which is known as the 7/10 rule.
Can you put a honey super on too early?
YES! If you put them no too early the bees lose the heat up to the empty super. That will slow down brood rearing and reduce the number of bees they can keep warm. You are still full with honey so they have food they will clear as they raise new bees.
When can I add another super to my beehive?
When the bee colony reaches a point when a 10 frame hive reaches 8 frames full of bees, that is when you will add another super. Use the 80% rule in adding each super. After the second super is full drawn out of comb, that is when you can end supplemental sugar water feeding.
How many honey supers do I need?
During a honey flow, you will need more honey supers than you would need during a quieter time of year. A single hive can have at least 2-3 supers. When your first honey super is about ⅔ full of honey, add another super on top of it.
Should I harvest honey the first year?
As general rule of thumb, do not take honey from a colony in its first year. Often the bees aren’t strong enough yet to make an excess amount and they need every drop they have to make it through winter. If your colony is strong and has plentiful stores, how much you can harvest varies greatly by geographical location.
How quickly can bees fill a super?
A strong colony during a strong honey flow can draw new foundation and fill a honey super in 1 week, and sometimes in 3 to 4 days. An average bee colony will take between 2 to 4 weeks, while a weaker colony will take 1 to 2 months.
Do I need 2 brood boxes?
How many brood boxes should you have? The general consensus in most regions of the world is to use either one or two brood boxes. Using three or more means that you are probably doing your bees a disservice. In this case you would be better off splitting the large hive so you can get back to one or two brood boxes.
Did I add a second brood box too soon?
If its too soon for the second brood box, they may tear at the wax or fill it with nectar and turn it into honey. If the queen needs more room , the bees give you a clue. Look to your bees and the way the queen is running about the hive from comb to comb, looking to lay her eggs.
Why are my bees not going into the Super?
If the whole summer goes by and they never put anything in the supers, it’s because there wasn’t enough surplus nectar. The amount of honey they store has everything to do with how much nectar is available, and very little to do with how you arrange the honey supers.
How do you get bees to move into honey super?
If you want to encourage them to pull wax, feed them 2 parts sugar to one part water in jars/feeders inside the hive to reduce robbing. You can also check the bottom box and move the outside frames, which should have drawn wax comb, bee bread and honey, and move those to the top box to encourage bees to move up.
Can you have 2 supers on a flow hive?
However, if you live in areas with a very high nectar flow, or if your existing bee colony is particularly large, we would recommend you use two Flow Supers or more. You can also add conventional supers for overwintering purposes.
How much honey is in a 10 frame medium super?
HONEY PER 10 FRAME BOX A shallow super will typically yield between 25 and 30 pounds of honey, or 2 to 2 ½ gallons. A medium (6 5/8”) depth super will typically yield between 35 and 40 pounds, or 3 to 4 gallons. A full-depth box will typically yield between 60 and 70 pounds, or 5 to 6 gallons.
How many frames go in a honey super?
Some beekeepers use only 8 or 9 frames in a honey super, while others use all 10. It does make a difference. Obviously, if you use 9 frames, the comb on each frame will be drawn out wider by the bees, thus making much more space for the honey.
When should you not open a beehive?
Below 50°F (10°C) they probably won’t budge at all. During this period the beekeepers main concern is to help keep hives warm and avoid chilling the broad and bees. Opening the hive for long periods of time should be avoided.
Which way should beehives face?
Many experienced beekeepers suggest that the entrance of a beehive ideally should face towards the south or to the east. The southern exposure makes sense. During the winter months – at least in the northern hemisphere – the sun sits low on the southern horizon.
Is a queen excluder necessary?
Honey bee queens are not likely to cross more than four inches of honey to look for empty cells in which to lay eggs. Once there is a full surplus super of honey below some empty supers and above the brood nest, a queen excluder is not necessary, provided excessive smoke is not used while managing the colony.
How long does it take for bees to fill a brood box?
A package of bees will likely take up to 2 months to fill a brood box. This is a realistic expectation and your bees may fill it faster or take longer depending on your local conditions. Also, the population of a package of bees will slowly shrink for around 3 weeks until the first round of new brood emerges.
Can you feed bees with supers on?
To clarify, a beekeeper should never feed sugar syrup to bees when they have a honey super in place. Never. If a honey super is in place when the bees have sugar syrup, they will store it in the comb just like honey.
Do commercial beekeepers use queen excluders?
Many – perhaps most – commercial beekeepers do not use queen excluders, believing that by restricting the movement of the honeybees, the queen excluder inhibits the maximum production of honey. Old-timer beekeepers laughingly refer to queen excluders as “honey excluders”.
