[JDavis]

I am a first time beekeeper. Things were going well until I added the first super. The bees never went up into it and never drew out the comb. They became a lot more aggressive. There were still eggs, larvae, etc. I did not notice any supercedure cells (thinking I must have over looked it- I rushed because the bees were so pissy). After a week of them not working the super, I decided to pull frames of honey from the brood boxes to the super and put the empty frames in the brood boxes. Yesterday and today, the hive has looked like this....(pics attached).

These pics were just taken at 6 pm in Savannah, GA area. It is still 90 degrees out. I think impending swarm. My husband thinks they are just hot.

Needing some wisdom from the experienced....

Jeanine

 

[mharrell11]

I agree with your husband. Temperature and humidity are up.

Taken at 6:45pm. It's 84 degrees and the humidity was up. Had a high of 92 today. This is pretty much a daily occurrence.

Taken on May 24th at 4am. Really humid and about 80 degrees.

But maybe more people with experience will answer. I am just a newbie.

 

[burns375]

listen to your husband, i know its hard to do.

 

[JDavis]

Thanks! I have been known to over think things.

 

[tommyt]

Why so many box's ????

 

[Saltybee]

80 % full before adding box is a good target. They will chase brood frames moved up faster than honey frames. Sometimes just move honey back down and leave drawn frames. Too much space if they do.

 

[JRG13]

So many boxes, because they're dinky mediums.....

 

[Zbee]

Mediums or otherwise - only give them enough space for where they are developmentally. Too much space and they cannot control the environmental conditions or defend it appropriately. This could lead to SHBs or more issues.

If you want to encourage them to build the brood nest out in the 2nd box, I find adding a couple frames of capped brood (not honey) to the 2nd box is a very strong incentive. I would also consider removing all the other boxes until they need the space. (80% of the box is full as Saltybee recommended)

 

[JDavis]

Thanks, everyone, The bottom 3 boxes are full of brood (and packed with bees!) and prior to adding the super had about 3-4 frames per box of honey. I thought I may have waited to long to add the super- like I said above, the hive was pretty aggressive prior to adding the super. I pulled some of the frames of honey out of each of the 3 brood boxes and replaced with empty frames. I will do another inspection in the next few days to see whats happening. This hive is thriving and if I made any mistakes, it has been adding more space too slowly- not too soon!

I have seen a few (literally 3 or 4) SHB in the traps (which I feel is OK for south Georgia!) but no signs of damage from them.

 

[Saltybee]

Then just bearding.

With that many bees you can just add a full box in the middle. Empties between brood works well also. Where you put the frames determines what cells they draw. I want all brood myself so that is where I put the empties. Placing them where you removed honey will get honey/drone frames, nothing wrong with that, just a choice.

If you really want to try some things add an empty and a queen excluder in the middle. You will get queen cells and a second queen.

 

[estreya]

If i can interject to make a purely aesthetic observation ...

Your hive is GORGEOUS! I love love love the stand. Is it real wood, or faux bois?