Hello all
I have a honey super on and the bees are slowly drawing out the comb, it seems to be much slower than the 2 lower deeps. I noticed that there was some pollen mixed in next to what will be capped honey. Do they eat this later on or can one expect to have honey and pollen mixed toghether with the honey at the end of the season?? ( there is a queen excluder on) also about how long should it take them to construct the comb in the honey super up here in Wisconsin??
Thanks for the help.
Brian
hey Dr. B, I had a problem with my bees last year drawing out the honey super with the queen excluder on. Once I removed it the drew it out in about a week.
Don't put an queen excluder on under your supers unless you have drawn wax already in your supers.
Beeing a huge newbee in this hobby, I'm very glad I read this thread because I sure would have put the excluder on below my Honey Super when it comes time!
But I'm very curious about the queen laying eggs and everything else thats happening in a standard Deep. Isn't that an issue?
Many thanks and what a huge resource you guys are!
Jim
Quote from: Dr. B in Wisconsin on June 17, 2010, 10:40:51 PM
I have a honey super on and the bees are slowly drawing out the comb, it seems to be much slower than the 2 lower deeps.
Not unusual. If there's not a strong nectar flow going on and they don't need extra room, they won't draw it out.
Quote from: shep1478But I'm very curious about the queen laying eggs and everything else thats happening in a standard Deep. Isn't that an issue?
Only if it bugs you. It's a personal preference issue. I have a beekeeping buddy who hates the idea of the queen laying in a super and uses excluders religiously. Me? I don't use them. Yes, the queen sometimes lays brood in a super, but it's no big deal - I don't extract those frames.
I use a 2 deep brood chamber. During the winter they move up and in the Spring I rotate the boxes so the queen is back in the bottom. She usually just stays there all season. Bees like the brood low and I haven't had many queens move as high as a super. I check in April and May occasionally to make sure that there is too much pollen on the frames in the bottom box to interrupt and clog the brood pattern.
Also, others have said that they don't draw comb as well with a queen excluder - true, or with low nectar flow - true, but they also don't draw comb as well if they are not crowded. In my experience, new beekeepers add boxes too quickly. They buy their equipment and have it sitting around and are over eager. Crowd those bees a bit and they will work harder for you.
So is it my understanding, and yes I am one of those eager newbee's, that if I want to produce comb Honey, I don't need a queen extruder, and it is best to use starter frames without a foundation? And being in Upstate New York, When would I place my honey supers on. I plan on building my own honey suppers so I am not quite ready, and I need to purchase my frames,
Thanks
One of the leading experts on Comb Honey, Lloyd Spears of Ross Rounds, said at a "value added" beekeeping sminar "I'm not a good enough beekeeper to use an excluder...
No. you don't need an excluder.
Thanks for the input, I just removed the plastic queen excluder, after 18 days there was not much drawn comb. I will wait a week or so and take a look and advise what happened.
Brian