Hey fellas, I put a super on each of my hives and am wondering if you need to put on supers one at a time waiting till one is almost filled then putting on the next or is it just as well to put on 2 supers at the same time and take them off around july first for my area? I think since four supers is all I have for my two hives I'd just make 4 supers worth for the family and let the bees have the rest to ensure I don't need to feed next spring. What are yals thoughts? Thank's. Brad
You should super when you have only one or two frames left to go in the current one. The reason is that they might not fill out the existing frames towards the ends if they have the option to move up instead of out from the middle.
One super at a time also keeps the open frames down were beetles can hide.
Some good reasons given for one-at-a-time, but there's a few more variables to consider. During a heavy nectar flow I've seen a colony fill a super in just a couple days, including drawing out comb. If you have just a few backyard hives and can monitor them closely, then one-at-a-time may be the way to go. If you have a good flow going and won't be able to check for several days, then put on more than one.
If you have supers with only foundation, one super at a time until it's about 70% drawn out with comb.
If you have supers of drawn comb, put all supers on your hive at one time.
When you again open the inner cover, you see how full are the new boxes.
Sometimes bees are not able to occupye the box and it takes time and some hives
need 2 new boxes.
If super has in every gap even amount of bees, you may try another box.
.
hmm sounds like no one uses a deep ?
Quotehmm sounds like no one uses a deep ?
I have a couple but mostly I use all mediums. I agree with all that is said here though. My stuff is all drawn, and I put 2 or 3 on at a time. If I did have some foundation only, I would do it one at a time while keeping an eye on it.
I use deeps.
First I posted it too quick (less than ten seconds, and I can type a lot in ten seconds) then it was a double post (even though the first didn't take)... so I'll try it again...
Four...
:)
Seriously, though, if you have the hive in your backyard you can add them one at a time if you like, but if they are a distance to drive, I'd pile them on.