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Author Topic: Spring brood in the honey super  (Read 2341 times)

Offline tjc1

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Spring brood in the honey super
« on: April 14, 2013, 04:59:40 pm »
Searched for anything on this but didn't see anything...

Newbee mistake, I know... Last fall I left on a honey super that was about 2/3 full of honey, fearing that if I took it I'd wreck the hive's chances of wintering over. They have done fine, and looked great today during my first inspection, but, as I had been warned, the super is now honey-less and nicely filled with brood... Too late for the queen excluder that I got for the occasion.

Could someone advise me of how to proceed from here? I have two deeps under the super. I didn't do a complete inspection, but I imagine that the lowest deep must be uninhabited if the cluster is all the way up at the top of the hive.

Thanks in advance!

Offline iddee

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2013, 06:00:30 pm »
You are correct on the deep being empty. As the flow advances, they will move the brood chamber down and place the honey in the top. When there is enough excess honey to fill the super, the brood will be gone from there. The best thing to do now is "NOTHING"
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Offline asprince

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2013, 08:23:23 pm »
Iddee has been at this a lot longer than me but I usually shake all the bees off the honey super frames into the deep brood boxes, add a queen excluder and place the honey super back on. The queen will be below and the bees will back fill the honey super as the brood hatches.


Steve
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Offline tjc1

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2013, 08:30:13 pm »
Thanks, guys. I had thought about doing what Steve suggests, but felt that it was still too chilly to so disrupt the bees what with all that open and capped brood. I was also nervous about the idea of shaking the queen out (and injuring her) in the case that she was on one of those frames. Iddee 's plan seems functional and least likely to disrupt. I am more and more persuaded that leaving the bees to their own devices as much as possible is the best way to go...

Offline Finski

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2013, 04:55:08 am »

 the super is now honey-less and nicely filled with brood...

Could someone advise me of how to proceed from here? I have two deeps under the super.

Things are better than they can be.

You have a good build up going. The super is free from crytallised honey.

take one high box off. Select from frames those which perhaps have pollen and put them into box. Put the box under brood box.


You have not made (yet) nothiong wrong. Let the build up continues. Take care that hive has enough foor and enjoy your succes.

Many beekeeprs use medium boxes as brood boxes. Nothing wrong in that.
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Offline Finski

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2013, 04:57:36 am »
Iddee has been at this a lot longer than me but I usually shake all the bees off the honey super frames into the deep brood boxes, add a queen excluder and place the honey super back on. The queen will be below and the bees will back fill the honey super as the brood hatches.



You may do that later in summer but not now.

Take the third box off because bees cannot quard empty frames and it allows robbers come in.

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Offline Jim134

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2013, 05:20:23 am »
You are correct on the deep being empty. As the flow advances, they will move the brood chamber down and place the honey in the top. When there is enough excess honey to fill the super, the brood will be gone from there. The best thing to do now is "NOTHING"

 X:X X:X


                    BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
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Offline bailey

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2013, 09:32:14 pm »
After they backfill it and you extract it you can use the comb in swarm traps. ;)
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Offline Finski

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Re: Spring brood in the honey super
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2013, 09:59:27 pm »
After they backfill it and you extract it you can use the comb in swarm traps. ;)
Bailey

That is funny.

YOu may use combs for brood or for honey. There is nothing odd in those combs.

Only odd is that thing in the hive called excluder.  You may leave it off. It has no magic in it.
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