Risks of supering too soon

Algonam · April 19, 2012, 09:55:03 PM

Still within my first year of beekeeping, almost 11 months now so I haven't yet gone through the Spring supering process.
During a recent conversation with a fellow beekeeper with also just under 1 year of experience we were talking about when to do certain things.
I am wondering what the risks of supering too soon are? ie: if the other box of frames aren't mostly filled with brood or honey and another box of empty frames is added on top, what are the risks?

Kathyp · April 19, 2012, 10:36:18 PM

depends on where you are. in a SHB area, you don't want to do it. if it's still pretty cold, you might not want to give them the space. i super early if i'm going to be out of town because i don't have SHB and by not the temps are above freezing at night.

when is your main flow? if you don't think you'll be available to super when it hits, you are probably ok doing it early in your area.

BlueBee · April 19, 2012, 10:45:50 PM

Like with most things bees, you have to find a balance between two bad scenarios. If you wait too long to add a super (or two), you may end of crowding the new bees being born (up to 2000 a day) and drive the colony toward swarming. If you super too soon your hive could be attacked by pests that can destroy your comb before there is enough bees to patrol it.

In Canada, you probably only have to worry about wax moths and they're probably not out in mass yet so you're probably safe from comb destruction in the spring. However the other downside to adding boxes in the spring is the thermodynamics. Adding boxes adds more surface area. More surface area = more heat losses. Bees need to keep the brood near 95F in the spring to raise all those baby bees.

General rule of thumb is to add a super when the box below is 80% full. Probably as good of a plan as any.

stella · April 20, 2012, 12:32:00 AM

Yikes! I better get a super on then.
We are having fluctuating temps here in MN from 70 to 40 for highs. Hive is still wrapped with tar paper. I got a quick peek in the top deep and they are filling out the outer frames with comb but still going nuts on the dry sugar reserves in the separate top deep from winter. Taking lots of water from the water sources when the temps are mild. Loads of bees. Hauling in some pollen. Drones are present. Dandelions are just starting to bloom. Apple and crab apple trees are just beginning to flower.
They are sending me a vibe to get that super on! But maybe staple some tar paper on it. :?

Good questions Algonam! Thanks for bringing this up!

stella · April 20, 2012, 12:33:10 AM

PS.... no SHB here.

Finski · April 20, 2012, 02:54:45 AM

.
You live in Ottawa and you have cold nights there in Spring. Days are too cold if it is rain or bad wind.

Even with 50 y experience it is difficult to see when it is a right time to give a new box.
I only see that bees do not rise up and the box may stay unoccupied a week.

When you give a second box, it adds volume of hive 100%. Heat rises up and often bees have difficulties to keep brood warm. i have sawn that they may destroy 30% of lower brood when the queen rise to lay to upper box.

That is why I add the second box under the brood box. Bees occupye the box when they need new space. So it happend in nature too. Brooding goes downwards during summer.
When the lower box has half full brood, then revolve the boxes. Then it may be ritght time to give a third box = real super for honey

one brood for is not good job for beginner. Some are mad with their excluders.

Enlargening the hive in Spring does not depend on honey. The growing colonyneeds new space.

Algonam · April 20, 2012, 08:45:53 AM

You know.....sometimes I think I should just leave them alone and they'd be better off!
My bees are a 35 minute drive away so it isn't easy to keep going back and forth to make adjustments. Now I am thinking I have messed them up by supering too soon. As well, I took the insulated walls off last week when it was warmer. Now it is raining and cooler nights close to the freezing point again, with some snow coming Monday. I can't get back to them until Sunday. I may insulate them again on Sunday, depending on the fcst. Luckily I only have 2 hives. I have left insulation under the roof of each hive, so hopefully that will help....and to top it off, I figured the queen always moved upwards, so on one hive I switched boxes and put the brood on the bottom and gave her more room above that. Hopefully the bees will understand that I really don't know what the heck I am doing and adjust accordingly!!!

Course Bee · April 20, 2012, 03:36:10 PM

Don't beat yourself up Algonam. The bees will adjust to almost anything we do wrong. If you have a brood chamber that is almost empty on top of the brood chamber they are using they have to work harder to keep the brood warm. If they had brood that was near emergence those bees will help keep the rest of the brood warm. You probably should not have put the supers on yet but, all is not lost. Take them off on Sunday or move the inner cover down to the top of the brood chambers to conserve some of the heat until they build up some more.