Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Beekeeping 101 => Topic started by: Mosti on July 31, 2015, 08:17:28 am
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Hello everyone. Have tried to search for a how to deal with a honey bound hive without success. Any suggestions in here or elsewhere please?
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Using the same size frames in the honey supers Just move the frames up. If not extract a couple and place the empty frames in the middle of the brood chamber for the queen to lay in.
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My concept of a honey bound hive is when the bees are storing and capping honey in the brood box. This restricts the area in which the queen can lay.
In my tool box I have an old domestic fork. I use this to break some of the cappings at the top and side edges of the brood area. Debris on the fork tines is wiped on the wood of the super frames. If things go to plan, the bees will move the exposed honey into the super and expand the brood area.
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I did what apis said, though a day late and a dollar short, my hive ended up swarming out.
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If they swarmed out you are in fact about a week late. Just a out anything you would have done would not of stopped them from swarming.
The queen would have had to be removed from the hive with a few frames of brood so the queen cells that had been started could emerge mate and take over the hive and allow the bees to think that they had swarmed. The nuc would quickly build up to a single.
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Dealing with honey bound hive currently. Queen went up through the middle and layed brood in the 4th super. Breaking down the hive and reorganizing. I thought I was keeping up with them on the supers. Maybe I should have put the empty super underneath the capped ones. I planned on pulling supers tomorrow to extract as it is. Have plenty of drawn comb to swap out in the brood chamber. Will save the those frames that I pull to make sure they have enough for winter.
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Yes if the honey at the top of the frames are capped they will refuse to go above and fill the empty combs. A top entrance some times will encourage the bees to work upwards or bottom super. Although if you are not using queen excluders the queen will race the bees to it and lay it with brood.
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Bottom brood boxes were not filled with honey. They are filling with pollen. Moved the brood from the top back down to the bottom. Pulling honey supers this weekend. Gave them an extra box of comb below honey supers.
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curtchan, a little late to your question........this is how i do it when i add supers..........with drawn comb, a queen excluder always goes on. many do not use queen excluders, but the drawbacks are the queen laying up in them.......even when you think you have a honey barrier the first super up and one hits a dearth, the honey is utilized and the queen finds her way up there. many times i place frames in for comb honey.......i do not want the queen up there. if a dearth hits and the bees need the honey with the excluder on, i don't worry about when the queen gets busy laying again.
i also will sometimes flop supers and frames around.
apis said bees will refuse to go above and fill the empty combs.
in my own experience i use a rather wide top entrance and pile on the supers as needed, and sometimes use queen excluders with a notch cut out on them to allow bees access. i only harvest once a year (in early september); i have yet to find the bees ignoring the fresh super placed on top, and at times had numerous supers on (over 4), and i top super. ;)
not saying apis is incorrect, all situations are different, so take into consideration your situation, the behavior of your bees, your flow, and your weather and your management practices. most of all your bees......... :D