Author Topic: New super above or below?  (Read 10393 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline tbonekel

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1053
  • Thanked: 25 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Bells, Texas
New super above or below?
« on: May 10, 2015, 07:44:50 pm »
The last bee meeting I went to, there was a guy that said when adding supers, place them below full supers. Make sense or not? I can reason both ways.

Offline Yankee11

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1412
  • Thanked: 27 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Central Arkansas
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2015, 07:49:10 pm »
I do. I under super.

Offline pistolpete

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 786
  • Thanked: 20 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2015, 11:00:10 pm »
I have done both, and notice very little difference in the speed of build up.  Pros of top supering: less work for you and super is in the hottest part of the hive, which the wax builders like.  Cons: the nectar has further to travel to get there.  The cons are largely eliminated if your bees like using a top entrance.
My advice: worth price charged :)

Offline Yankee11

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1412
  • Thanked: 27 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Central Arkansas
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2015, 11:19:28 pm »
Pistol- do you think it matters if its foundation vs. pulled comb.

Seems to me it makes them wanna pull those frames quicker if its in the middle. Like sticking a frame of foundation between to pulled frames. Just me thinking.

Offline barry42001

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1016
  • Thanked: 9 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Holtcom City, Tx 7613
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2015, 12:20:34 am »
Bee's have a natural inclination to work top to bottom,  I encourage this by bringing a full frame into the new super.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 12:20:51 am by barry42001 »
"if a man is alone in the woods, and speaks and no woman is there to hear him. is he still wrong?

Offline pistolpete

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 786
  • Thanked: 20 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2015, 01:48:53 am »
A strong hive in a strong flow will draw a piece of cardboard in outer space.  It's when conditions are less than prime that you have to tinker.  Sometimes when you bottom super in a dearth, they just climb up the foundation and continue to work the top super.  The bottom super gets all travel stained and then they don't want to draw it out ever.   If you're you really want nice frames, take your first drawn super and use it to make two checker boarded supers (alternating drawn and foundation).   Another technique is to take the drawn frames from the middle of the super and rotate them to the outside positions where bees don't like to draw comb. 

One of the big differences in top supering is that you get way less pollen further from the brood.  Also once you have a full super it's fairly safe to pull the queen excluder and keep building up.
My advice: worth price charged :)

Offline blueblood

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1768
  • Thanked: 39 times
  • Gender: Male
    • https://www.facebook.com/scottshoneyandlipbalms
  • Location: Central Indiana, USA
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2015, 05:42:04 am »
I am with Pistol on this one.

Offline Ray

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 200
  • Thanked: 10 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: A 1 hour drive North of Grand Rapids Michigan
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2015, 07:52:19 am »
I run a top entrance (actually top and bottom) during a heavy nectar flow and top super.

Offline efmesch

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1696
  • Thanked: 201 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Israel
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2015, 03:38:01 pm »
I give six votes for one method, half a dozen for the other.   ;D

Offline LazyBkpr

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6842
  • Thanked: 205 times
  • Gender: Male
  • www.outyard.net
    • The Outyard
  • Location: Richland Iowa
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2015, 05:28:36 pm »
LOL   Ef....


   I like to OVER super, because the honey cap usually keeps the queen where she belongs. as someone else mentioned, under supering can get pollen and even brood in the UNDER supered comb...
   I also use a top entrance, so they have free access to the top super
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

*Sponsor*

Offline Jen

  • Platinum Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10175
  • Thanked: 240 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Upper California
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2015, 05:41:50 pm »
I'm leaning towards top supering simply because I did put a super on under the first super... and found that the queen did sneak up there and layed eggs all along first bottom row of cells. It did tell me tho that I needed to get some frames in the top hive box so she would have more room to lay.
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline tecumseh

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 856
  • Thanked: 71 times
  • Location: College Station, Tx.
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #11 on: May 11, 2015, 05:59:15 pm »
to ef's comment I say...

why not both? sometimes I do one and sometimes the other depending on the individual hive.

Offline Jen

  • Platinum Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10175
  • Thanked: 240 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Upper California
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2015, 10:31:44 pm »
Say! I'm am curious as to why all the stacking of supers? What is the purpose of?

  Does the honey season more when left on the hive? I've seen pics of hives that are 10 deeps high. Why not just take the supers off when they are solidly full, put another empty on?
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline pistolpete

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 786
  • Thanked: 20 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #13 on: May 11, 2015, 10:39:44 pm »
Many people only extract once a year.  The only way to store full supers off the hive is in a freezer, otherwise wax moths ruin them.  So the easiest storage is on a strong hive.    I think that very few commercial bee keepers stack very high.  They just extract every time they have a couple of hundred supers capped.
My advice: worth price charged :)

Offline tbonekel

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1053
  • Thanked: 25 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Bells, Texas
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #14 on: May 11, 2015, 10:46:28 pm »
I can see one advantage of top supering. It's easier to tell when you need to add another super. If bottom supering, you have to take the top, full ones off just to check if you need to add another.

Offline Jen

  • Platinum Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10175
  • Thanked: 240 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Upper California
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #15 on: May 11, 2015, 10:50:41 pm »
I have thought about that as well tbone, and that's one reason why I go all mediums as well. I think I still prefer top supering.
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline LazyBkpr

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6842
  • Thanked: 205 times
  • Gender: Male
  • www.outyard.net
    • The Outyard
  • Location: Richland Iowa
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #16 on: May 12, 2015, 10:18:40 am »
Aye, what PistolPete said..  in southern areas there is also more worry of SHB too.. 
   If you pull a super every time it is full, it would have to be extracted within a couple days, which would also mean cleaning the extracting equipment every time..   
   The best place to store a capped super is on the hive that capped it.. extract one time and have one big mess to clean instead of a bunch of little messes.
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

*Sponsor*

Offline iddee

  • Administrator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6169
  • Thanked: 414 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Sophia, N. C.
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #17 on: May 12, 2015, 12:05:38 pm »
I harvest when I find a capped super. I place it in a large plastic trash bag and seal it with tape. Then I freeze it for a few days to a week. Once taken out, it can be stored anywhere in the house or garage until ready to extract. Just keep it where mice or others that can tear the plastic can't get to it. You can store as many as you want, for as long as you want.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein

Offline Jen

  • Platinum Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10175
  • Thanked: 240 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Upper California
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #18 on: May 12, 2015, 01:09:55 pm »
Iddee, I have read in another post this method you use. I have two med supers sitting on a table in my garage that are half full of capped honey. They are covered so insects can't get to them.

I lost hot hive so there is one med super that has no home at the moment. And mother hive and #2 hive went queenless, so I took off those supers during the time that I was watching and inspecting the hives. As soon as I know that both of these hives are queen right I will put the supers back on. Otherwise, I have to keep lifting them on and off. No flow going on right now anyway.

Is this a good idea?
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline iddee

  • Administrator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6169
  • Thanked: 414 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Sophia, N. C.
Re: New super above or below?
« Reply #19 on: May 12, 2015, 03:00:01 pm »
Did you seal them and freeze them? The insect eggs were already in them. If you didn't freeze them, they will be destroyed.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein