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  • Too many supers!

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #7920  by Bananas
 24 Jun 2020, 08:48
I have 2 hives, one I created earlier in the year as a split. The original hive is doing a sterling job and has just had its 6th super added!

The newer hive is coming along with one super and I expect them both to have a couple more on by the end of July.

The problem I have is too many supers on one hive which is becoming a bit unmanagable and a bit wobbly. Im thinking one option would be to remove a couple of the 6 supers and move them to the other hive (once cleared of bees). This will re-address the wobbly stack and help my back in the long run.

Just looking to see whether or not this is a dumb idea?!
 #7922  by Murox
 24 Jun 2020, 10:32
Stating the obvious - why not extract a few ~ aren't some capped and ready ?
 #7923  by AndrewLD
 24 Jun 2020, 10:48
Can't think of any objection to that plot. Why not put them over newspaper and unite the bees in those supers as well; it can boost the smaller half of a split that lost out on flying bees when you did the split (I assume the colony racing away was on the original site and is doing well???).
There also is an advantage to giving the other hive some extra room in this hot weather.
Six supers by now is doing rather well unless you have left the spring honey on and suggests you'll soon need more than just two more. If you take the frames off the hive you need to extract asap - wax moth can be found in supers as well as brood boxes - if the bees are there to keep them down they can soon mess up a super of honey.
 #7924  by NigelP
 24 Jun 2020, 11:02
As Murox says why not crack on and extract ASAP.....why leave capped (assuming it is capped) honey on. I extract as soon as ready on a roughly monthly basis.
Also be careful if you do unite. Newspaper unites in this hot weather are a big no no as the bees that are "trapped" cannot get access to water to regulate their internal temp. Cold weather is fine....but why not use air freshener? It's fast and no faffing around getting a broad sheet that fits over a queen excluder.
 #7925  by AndrewLD
 24 Jun 2020, 11:24
I think I should have said do it in the evening and make sure there are plenty of holes. An unperforated page from the Daily Telegraph kept them from uniting for days - thankfully that was Spring unite - but Nigel has a good point; thankyou.

I know its the fashion these days but there is something about spraying with air freshner that worries me. I have used liberal dollops of peppermint oil on cotton pads before now and then taken them out later; the bees in the supers should I would think be predominantly housebees is that less likely to cause a commotion.....does anyone else do that?
 #7927  by Bananas
 24 Jun 2020, 14:11
Thanks for the replies. The answer to the obvious question of extract as you go is that I don’t have an extractor but hire one from a local beekeeping society. Looking to do the lot at once.

I’ll try shifting some supers over. I may run out before the end of July and have to hire twice anyway!
 #7928  by Murox
 24 Jun 2020, 14:20
Maybe there is someone 'local' to you who could do you a favour ?
 #7937  by Steve 1972
 24 Jun 2020, 19:52
i Never unite supers to a weak hive from a strong hive..you weaken the strong hive and then you have two colonies that will struggle to process nectar to honey instead of one..
What i would personally do is go through each super and only remove the capped frames (even though most uncapped frames could be 17% moisture) into a spare empty brood box..then fill the space from the removed capped supers with the uncapped ones and so on..now the oil seed rape is finished you can chance storing the capped suppers till you get your slot for the extractor..
 #7941  by Patrick
 25 Jun 2020, 00:43
Banana, they are your bees and it’s up to you.....but...😁

I would echo the sentiment to factor in a “spring “ extraction and an end of summer flow extraction. Reasons why include:

You will likely find they are distinctively different honeys from different flowers- this make a pleasant change and if you sell honey ever - you have at least two different products. Add some set honey and that’s three for little extra extra effort. People do like a choice!

Another reason is lots of supers can mean they only get part filled or part capped unless you have a prodigious flow.

The old spring honey if they found any OSR may be firmly granulated by the end of the summer and Unextractable.

Every inspection finds you hefting off and then back on loads of heavy boxes which is knackering and as the stack gets higher the strain on you and the kit increases. If you have to move your bees mid season for whatever reason it’s a logistical challenge.

It requires you to purchase and store a far greater amount of kit to have 6 or 8 supers per brood box. If you extract and return to be refilled I think you get more honey as they are not sitting on huge reserves already.

And not least, it makes the process of extracting less of a marathon to have two goes at it. Unless the extractor is a long way away, most hire fees are minimal.

So maybe give it a try next year if not this?
 #7943  by AndrewLD
 25 Jun 2020, 06:34
Steve 1972 wrote:
24 Jun 2020, 19:52
i Never unite supers to a weak hive from a strong hive..you weaken the strong hive and then you have two colonies that will struggle to process nectar to honey instead of one..
What i would personally do is go through each super and only remove the capped frames (even though most uncapped frames could be 17% moisture) into a spare empty brood box..then fill the space from the removed capped supers with the uncapped ones and so on..now the oil seed rape is finished you can chance storing the capped suppers till you get your slot for the extractor..
As Patrick says, it's up to you.
"You don't make the weak strong by making the strong weak" (Calvin Coolidge), that's the second time his words have come to mind in the last week. But we often transfer bees after an artificial swarm or split to balance things up by swapping the hives to boost the weaker half and a split is what he has just done. My thinking is that the 6 super hive is racing away - good candidate for a July swarm????
As for storing frames; I have a large honey warmer so I can (and used to) store up to five supers worth of frames at around 30 degsC in order to get new frames into the hives pending extract. Once left it a few weeks and got wax moth floss over half the frames. Lost a couple of frames last time and that was only 4-5 days. And if it is uncapped it can surely take on moisture unless well sealed......... So there is some risk if you do that, keep an eye on them.