Adding boxes question

[tillie]

I am about to go out of town for about a week.  We are in the middle of the tulip poplar flow.  All of my hives have filled their first boxes pretty well, but all are not built out 80%.  However, with my being gone and we are about to have a stretch of pretty weather, I'm thinking of adding a box to each hive before I go regardless of the state of the box below (most are pretty well built and would probably need a new box this Sunday....and I won't be back until next Wednesday.

So how much trouble would I cause if I go ahead tomorrow and put the new boxes on each hive?

Linda T in Atlanta

[annette]

Well Linda from what I have been reading here on this forum, you can certainly place a super on top of each hive. As long as you have a honey flow going, which you do, you can add the supers even though they haven't finished the previous ones.

I have even read some posts here about people placing more than one super on top if they knew they would be away for a longer time.

Take care
Annette

[Brian D. Bray]

When you expect to be gone for any period of time, especially at the start or during a honey flow it is better to super to much than not enough.  Not enough means they'll probably swarm in 2-3 weeks.

[doak]

tillie, if I were you with blackberries and other stuff coming on I wouldn't put less than 2 on.
A strong colony can fill a medium with drawn comb in 4 or 5 days.
And I know where your at there is plenty of stuff around for them to work on.
Poplar blooms aren't going anywhere for another week or two and the poison oak/ivy is just starting.
good luck and have a happy trip.
doak

[HAB]

In the same situation.  We were late picking up our nuc due to a death in he beeks family. When we picked it up he had already transfered it into a deep and it was 80% full.  Told us to put a second on top as soon as we got home.  We did and they are going like gang busters. Now we are scheduled to leave on our annual vacation in two days, four days after setting it up.  And are afraid they might run out of space before we get back in one week.  To super or not to super that is the question?  :)

[doak]

HAB, you be gone 4 days, put at least 2 mediums on.
sounds like your colony is going strong.
Thing about supering, You can always sort through  them and take some off.
You may not be able to recover a swarm and the nectar you miss is "GONE" for "EVER".
my puit.doak

[Michael Bush]

It's the honey flow there.  Pile them on.  Put three or four boxes on each.