introducing purchased bees to a new hive body

[morganchris030778]

I understand that when you start a new hive with purchased bees, you will not get honey the first season. If this is correct then my question is this, is it necessary to place a super on a newly established hive or should you just wait till the following spring.

[schawee]

it is necessary to add a super or deep  when needed.if you dont give them room to grow they will swarm on you.i had hives build up so fast that i did harvest honey from them the first year.

[JP]

You just might be able to harvest some honey the first season as Schawee pointed out. It just depends...

If you don't give them room they will become congested and their natural tendency will be to swarm out on you. When 8 of 10 frames are drawn, time to add another box.


...JP

[L Daxon]

As said above, you definitely need to add a second box when the first one gets about 3/4 drawn, whether you think you will get a honey harvest the first year or not.  You don't want them to swarm from lack of space and you want them to build as much comb as possible. And they will probably need a place to store extra honey during the flow, just not enough for you to take any for yourself.

That doesn't mean you will leave the second (third?) box on over the winter.  It will depend on how well the population builds up and how much stores the girls have/need to get through to spring.

[JP]

You may not be able to pull a full super but you very well may be able to pull a frame or two, it just depends...


...JP

[AliciaH]

So many new beekeepers start hives thinking they are going to get this really great honey harvest!  Yay, go bees!  Sounds like you already know from your reading this isn't always the case.

The first year is about letting the colony build up and making sure they have stores for the following winter, anything left over is yours.  BUT, this is also true for any and every year.  Every colony has to come out of its winter cluster and thrive, and some do better than others for a long list of different reasons.  A hive that gives you honey one year may not the next, and vice verse.

This is definitely a hobby you do for love.  And if you do, it's always rewarding and always fun (okay, there might be some short windows of 'not fun' in there, but overall, it is!).  Just be prepared to get bombarded by family and friends when you do get honey!  Once word gets out, you'll become the "sweetest" person on the block!