I have a booming hive that made it through the winter (Chicago area).
Here's what it looked like on March 10th. video-2010-03-10-14-41-38 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM0qpkTN7Q0#)
Here's the entrance today, 61 deg. out. video-2010-03-19-12-29-18 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYkU6za9Jjo#)
This is a second-year queen. I reversed, and am wondering about the best time to add a super to help prevent swarming.
I'm thinking that the best time to add a super is when the temps get above 60consistently during the day.
However, the hive sits on a hive scale. I could monitor to see when the hive is gaining weight and add it then.
Or, I could just add it now.
Any suggestions?
TIA,
Ken
A second year hive that is busting at the seams will probably swarm wether you add supers or not. I have not found adding honey supers to prevent any of my hives from swarming. Someone else may have a different experience though. I wish it was that easy :-D Have you been feeding ? When does your flow start ? Does the queen have plenty of room to lay eggs ? Do a search here on swarm prevention and you get a major amount of info. If you dont find what you are looking for let us know. The quick answer as to when to add a honey super is just before the flow starts. :)