How many supers per hive?

keeperofthebees · February 01, 2008, 06:08:02 PM

I have two hives and am getting two more this year and was wondering how many supers I'd need. I have 9 right now which makes 2 per hive plus one extra. Would a brood box with two supers be enough? I was planning on just extracting if both supers were full but I wasn't sure if that would cut down a lot on production.

And for a random question...how much honey is in a 10 frame deep? :) I told you it was random.

Thanks!

yoderski · February 01, 2008, 07:54:17 PM

I made out fine for 1 year with 2 supers per hive; you just have to extract more often and place them right back on the hive. But actually that is probably a good thing since it always gives you fresh honey. For a 10 frame medium super, you can get about 30 lbs of honey extracted. At least that is what I averaged...Jon

Michael Bush · February 01, 2008, 08:20:00 PM

I'd try to have three supers per hive and be prepared to buy more. I've had hives that were too high to reach the top super...

keeperofthebees · February 01, 2008, 09:02:59 PM

Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like I can do it with 2, but three or more would be best. I don't really want to buy more (well, I build the boxes but buy the frames/foundation) because money is tight at the moment but I really want more hives.

Because of my schedule I can always rob then extract and put the boxes back on the hive the same day.

Brian D. Bray · February 01, 2008, 11:20:23 PM

I like at least 3 per hive so that the bees are working 2 while I'm processing 1. 4 is better. Then there's the unexpected swarm you just caught. With 4 supers per hive you have enough supers to keep your working hives going plus the extra equipment to allow for the occasional swarm.

dpence · February 02, 2008, 11:16:49 PM

I use two, but I believe it would be better with more. Depends on how the flow goes.

NWIN Beekeeper · February 03, 2008, 05:16:56 AM

I try to plan for long haul....

You should consider that at the end of the season you may have to store/protect whatever boxes of frames that don't contain winter stores and stay on the hive!

There is also a trade off for honey production for the wax needed to draw the comb in the additional boxes.
During a good flow, this can be minor, but it can be greatly impacted by starting/ending flows.

So while extra boxes sound a bit more kind or might make you feel like you are doing right by your bees, the truth of the matter is you might get a better yield and have less storage issues on fewer boxes.

Do consider, the better nectar can be spread about the hive, the faster it cures and is capped.
I'd hate to see you waiting for a crop to cure and your hive is nectar bound with more coming in heavy.
I would hate to wait for frames to get capped. This probably depends on the weather. :roll: