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New Zealand Beekeeping Forums
NZ Beginner Beekeepers
One or two brood boxes, Honey flow, when to super and collateral damage.
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<blockquote data-quote="John B" data-source="post: 9279" data-attributes="member: 207"><p>I am a big fan of two full depth brood boxes or their equivalent but there are many that would disagree with me. As far as honey supers go it depends so much on what's happening but in general I put a third box on (first honey super) whenever the bees are strong enough normally around here sometime in October and I put the fourth on when I'm fairly confident they won't need feeding again and this can be as early as late October and as late as mid December. When bees are on a heavy flow they need a lot of room to mature nectar and they will often fill two full depth honey supers as fast as they would fill one. A few years ago I was desperate for some comb honey for my farmers market stall so I put some comb honey boxes on as a third box just to see what would happen and they filled up slower than the four-storey hives next door which also had comb honey on but as a fourth box. I normally start taking off honey between Christmas and New Year but that varies every year. Once I take the first crop off (if I get a first crop) then unless prospects are amazing I run the hives with only one honey super after that.</p><p>At the start of the season it's best on average to give the bees plenty of room. As the season progresses and you get towards the end you get more honey if you cram the hives down a bit and also ensure they have plenty of stores for winter. Hives in urban situations generally don't suffer from a lack of honey flow like rural hives can but they also tend not to get a heavy honey flow and it just seems to continuously trickle in. Hives in this situation probably have no need for a second honey super as long as they are removed and replaced when they are full.</p><p>If you do end up in a situation where you have a heavy autumn flow such as we used to get from nodding Thistle then you have to be very careful that the hives don't cram down to nothing with nowhere left to breed, they are also very reluctant to draw foundation once you get past the first couple weeks of January. The beekeeper has to learn to react to what is happening and make the best decisions for the time. You won't always get it right because you can't look into the future.</p><p>I went checking hives the other day and in some areas they were already cramming down and restricting the brood nest but not that interested in storing honey above the excluder and in others they were three quarters full in the fourth box and hardly had a cell of honey in the two brood boxes. Next time I go out they may be the complete opposite. I suspect it's somewhat easier keeping bees in countries that have proper seasons.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John B, post: 9279, member: 207"] I am a big fan of two full depth brood boxes or their equivalent but there are many that would disagree with me. As far as honey supers go it depends so much on what's happening but in general I put a third box on (first honey super) whenever the bees are strong enough normally around here sometime in October and I put the fourth on when I'm fairly confident they won't need feeding again and this can be as early as late October and as late as mid December. When bees are on a heavy flow they need a lot of room to mature nectar and they will often fill two full depth honey supers as fast as they would fill one. A few years ago I was desperate for some comb honey for my farmers market stall so I put some comb honey boxes on as a third box just to see what would happen and they filled up slower than the four-storey hives next door which also had comb honey on but as a fourth box. I normally start taking off honey between Christmas and New Year but that varies every year. Once I take the first crop off (if I get a first crop) then unless prospects are amazing I run the hives with only one honey super after that. At the start of the season it's best on average to give the bees plenty of room. As the season progresses and you get towards the end you get more honey if you cram the hives down a bit and also ensure they have plenty of stores for winter. Hives in urban situations generally don't suffer from a lack of honey flow like rural hives can but they also tend not to get a heavy honey flow and it just seems to continuously trickle in. Hives in this situation probably have no need for a second honey super as long as they are removed and replaced when they are full. If you do end up in a situation where you have a heavy autumn flow such as we used to get from nodding Thistle then you have to be very careful that the hives don't cram down to nothing with nowhere left to breed, they are also very reluctant to draw foundation once you get past the first couple weeks of January. The beekeeper has to learn to react to what is happening and make the best decisions for the time. You won't always get it right because you can't look into the future. I went checking hives the other day and in some areas they were already cramming down and restricting the brood nest but not that interested in storing honey above the excluder and in others they were three quarters full in the fourth box and hardly had a cell of honey in the two brood boxes. Next time I go out they may be the complete opposite. I suspect it's somewhat easier keeping bees in countries that have proper seasons. [/QUOTE]
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One or two brood boxes, Honey flow, when to super and collateral damage.
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