Part 0800.0005

[Toots]

When adding a new super does it go above or below the almost full one?

[Macfoy]

Not really daft and of course there are two answers......either above or below

 

Generally you put a new super below the existing and filling one. The reason being when the bees are bringing in nectar they need somewhere to dump it - I know it may not be drawn but that will happen. The super which is well on the way to being filled and capped doesn't want fresh nectar being dumped there. Bees will be working on the reducing moisture and capping and they will stick around until it is done, other bees will deal with the new stuff, so as a general rule of thumb put a new super under the old one or immediately above the brood box if you have more than one super already on the hive. It also gives a crowded hive space which may just tip the balance in deciding to swarm or not.

 

Cold weather is a good reason for not putting an empty super below a full one as it will discourage the bees from going up to the upper box to work on it, that of course doesn't happen too often, but inclement weather may just make you think about it.

 

Macfoy

[Guest]

Sorry but have to disagree where mis-information is concerned. Bees do not dump copious excesses of nectar onto undrawn foundation. It will either be processed in supers (drawn) or the broodbox.

 

Nectar is either stored around the brood nest, as food for developing larvae, or processed into honey and stored a little 'longer term' (arc above the brood) or for the winter. It is not stored for the beekeeper!

 

One normally adds a super below the existing one(s) because: The normal way for bees to store (or even brood) is top downwards. Consider if there were already two or three supers on and the bees are filling at the bottom, would they go up 3 storeys to find some more space? I don't think so.

 

Secondly, the bees will have to travel over the foundation to get to the work in progress. That will get them accustomed to the new wax. Finished cappings would also be walked over by many bees if the work in progress is above capped honey, so not such a sensible idea. Further the new super, if it needs to be drawn, will be in a warm place - just above the brood nest. Better for wax secretion, and manipulation, by the bees. One might notice that wax drawing usually starts direcly above the brood nest, not at the ends of the fsuper.

 

Not a daft question, but easily worked out when you consider all the options (apart from storing nectar on foundation!).

 

The supering is not the way the bees would do it naturally. This is one part of beekeeping that has to be altered from their natural response, so the closer it is to the brood nest the better.

 

Regards, RAB

[Toots]

one of the first things i was told was to think like a bee.

 

working through the answers from both of you it does make sense to add the empty super below!

 

thanks guys, one more lesson learnt... few thousand to go!