BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Double brood or brood and super?

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #3525  by Joe
 12 Jun 2019, 19:10
Hi guys,

So I got a swarm about 6 weeks ago and boy have they been busy. They filling up the brood box quite fast with honey, pollen and brood and they will soon have all the frames in my national drawn out. I was wondering whether to put a super or another brood box on next towards the end of this month? The number of bees isn't a ridiculous number so I don't imagine there would be any swarming soon but can't decided whether to increase the population size for next year by adding a BB or take a crop of honey this year with a super. Maybe I could put the super on with queen excluder to get some summer/autumn honey and then leave the super on without the queen excluder for the winter? Would you advise against this?

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated!
 #3529  by NigelP
 12 Jun 2019, 21:32
It is always difficult to judge one beekeepers lots of bees with another's....
If they are looking crowded...i.e rioling bees as you lift frames out then get QX and super on...but beware they may not use the super if they are not ready for it. I have a fullish hive that is not interested in their super. BUT...it is there for when they do need it.
Going to double brood box is a judgement call base don the fecundity of the queen. A very rough guideline might be if she gets to the point where she has laid 8 frames of brood then think about it....but not before....or maybe at 7 if the other 4 are totally stuffed with stores and she has no more room to lay.
 #3535  by Patrick
 12 Jun 2019, 23:26
Hi Joe and welcome to the Forum

Its one of those questions that there is no right or wrong answer to. You will get an outcome whatever you do, just a different one. If the super is all foundation you may need to encourage the bees to move into it by putting on without a queen excluder initially until some of the foundation is drawn out. In case the queen moves up as well if you decide to then put on a queen excluder, you will need to shake all the bees (and queen?) back into the brood box and put back the beeless super over a queen excluder.

They will overwinter fine either as a single brood box or double box or indeed brood and a half (shudders involuntarily..) but if the latter I would overwinter with the super underneath then at least it should be brood free in the early spring. All have merits and some possible downsides.But personally I would be thinking of that in September rather than now. See if you can get a super of honey for your efforts..

Try it and see what works for you.
 #3544  by AdamD
 13 Jun 2019, 12:37
From what you have described, I would be inclined to give them a super for now.