Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Moving Supers  (Read 1423 times)

Offline L Daxon

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 681
  • Gender: Female
Moving Supers
« on: May 11, 2013, 10:34:42 pm »
I have two hives that are going gangbusters right now. Both have 6 medium boxes, the top two are honey supers. I checked one of them today and the very top super has the frames all freshly drawn out and mostly filled with honey, but maybe only 3 of the 8 frames are completely capped.  I want to add another super but that would make it too tall for me.  I am only 5'2" and had a hard time getting the heavy 6th box off today as it is.  Would there be any harm in taking the nearly complete honey super off and moving it to a smaller hive (a 6 week old split) that is only 3 medium boxes high right now?  Would they finish capping it.  I would then put a new super of foundation on the gangbuster hive.

In addition to the nearly filled honey super, I will also add another box of undrawn foundation to the smaller hive under the honey super if the bottom 3 boxes are all drawn and hopefully full of brood and brood stores, which I think they are.

Is there anything wrong with using the smaller hive to cap and "store" this first full super?  I don't have a deep freezer to store it in when it is finished so I need to leave it on a hive somewhere.  Our flow is really just beginning and I usually don't process my harvest until August.  I may have to move processing up this year. :-D
linda d

Offline bailey

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 876
  • Gender: Male
Re: Moving Supers
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2013, 10:41:49 pm »
Throw it on top. They will cap it off
What they don't use that is.
Bailey
most often i find my greatest source of stress to be OPS  ( other peoples stupidity )

It is better to keep ones mouth shut and be thought of as a fool than to open ones mouth and in so doing remove all doubt.

Offline iddee

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 10853
  • Gender: Male
Re: Moving Supers
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2013, 11:03:22 pm »
They will only cap it if they have EXCESS honey to store. The smaller hive may be using all incoming goodies for brood. If so, they will not cap anything.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline Finski

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 3928
  • Gender: Male
Re: Moving Supers
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2013, 01:32:55 am »
.

Is there anything wrong with using the smaller hive to cap and "store" this first full super?  I

your beekeeping cannot go that way. You must have some table or so where you stand.
Bees lift all the  time rippen honey upwards and cap the  honey. A small hive cannot do that.

When you add supers, you must put a new box between brood and super. So bees cap honey in good order and you can extract honey and you return empty combs then..

I understand very well the difficulty. My friend is not able to lift any full honey boxes.
She has no power enough in muscles.

I am 66 y and I have difficulties to handle full langstrot boxes especially to lift them topmost.
It is hard to backbone too.
.
Language barrier NOT included

Offline Steel Tiger

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 563
  • Gender: Male
Re: Moving Supers
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2013, 01:48:07 am »
I understand very well the difficulty. My friend is not able to lift any full honey boxes.
She has no power enough in muscles.

I am 66 y and I have difficulties to handle full langstrot boxes especially to lift them topmost.
It is hard to backbone too.

Bring an empty box with you on a cart, then you can pull 1 frame at a time and put it into the empty. It takes a little more time but is much easier on the back.

Offline sterling

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1143
  • Gender: Male
Re: Moving Supers
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2013, 06:54:40 pm »
Build you a platform that will make you 6' 2  or 7'2 and keep adding supers on that hive that's making you honey.

 

anything