When do you add supers?

[Jon11]

If adding drawn honey supers to help relieve congestion is part of your swarm prevention plan, when do you start adding them? Do you start when the maples, deadnettle, and dandelions start, or do you wait until just before a heavier honey flow, like black locust or tulip poplar?

[thenance007]

If you are checkerboarding, you should definitely do it now. Just alternate the empty drawn frames with your top box of honey stores so you have 2 boxes each part honey and part empty. It is actually a bit late there, but you should still be ok. If you don't know what checkerboarding is, search checkerboarding on the forum or go to articles and look at Walt Wright's stuff.

[David LaFerney]

First of all i am just starting my 5th season and i'm still figuring it out myself. But, to have any hope of mitigating swarming (i think) you need to give them storage space before brood space becomes compromised. A strong hive of mine filled up 12 medium frames with nectar in less than 24 hours last week - on a bloom similar to yours. But if weather doesn't allow them to forage that same hive might feed all of that to brood before they get a chance to go get more. My judgement was to give them some room to work.

[Jon11]

I'm familiar with checkerboarding, just haven't given it a try yet, and none of my hives are really set up like Walt's (one deep with two shallows on top). I might try it next year. Right now I'm more concerned with just when to give them some extra space.
David, I think you are probably a couple of weeks ahead of me, though I might be wrong. What do you think the bees were working to bring that nectar in? That's really what I'm trying to figure out. Do they need supers when the earliest of plants start to bloom, or should it wait until just before a little more substantial flow?

[David LaFerney]

Maple - which is in all stages of bloom everywhere around here. Maple would make a big honey crop if the weather was nice enough and the hives were big enough to bring it in. Usually that is not the case and they eat/raise brood on all of it that they do bring in.

[hilreal]

If the hive is strong, one with the dandelions and more with the apple trees.

[hilreal]

Imrie = "crowd them in the fall and give them more space than they need in the spring"

[beedeetee]

I'm not from your area, but when you start seeing white wax being built near the top of the frames in your top box (just looking down at the frames without needing to remove them), it is time to add supers. When you see it, note the things that are starting to bloom and you will have a good idea when to super in later years.