[dgoodman]

Hello,

I was wondering whether there is any advantage to stacking honey supers as they fill up?

So far, I have simply removed the full one for harvest, and returned the super with frames and comb to the bees for cleanup and re-stocking.

Thanks,

DG

 

[Lew Best]

I asked an old timer why he stacked them (we were discussing tall hives) & he said no reason to if the bees have time to dry and cap everything. In a humid climate sometimes honey not dry enough in a heavy flow to pull before more supers needed.

Lew

 

[beebarf]

I pulled mine as it was capped for 4 reasons 1)I needed drawn frames so they could fill them again quickly during the main flow. 2)I wanted honey. 3)I didnt like all that weight on the hive. (my hive was starting to tilt to the left the higher and heavier it got.) Ive since leveled it. 4) I pulled my cut comb supers off as soon as done, so the wax wouldnt be all tracked up. I wanted it white.

 

[?honey?]

I leave the suppers on untill honey flow is over. That way I only have the extracting mess and clean up once.

 

[Michael Bush]

>I was wondering whether there is any advantage to stacking honey supers as they fill up?


The bees will protect the honey until you take it. If you leave it on you can extract less times. If you take it off you can buy less equipment. It depends on your schedule and how much work you want to do.

>So far, I have simply removed the full one for harvest, and returned the super with frames and comb to the bees for cleanup and re-stocking.

I can only get away with trashing the kitchen once a year.

 

[dgoodman]

Just to be sure, I am putting the newest addition underneath the near-full super. In other words, the new empty is not going on top. I believe this was the way it was explained to me.

Comments?

DG

 

[Michael Bush]

>Just to be sure, I am putting the newest addition underneath the near-full super. In other words, the new empty is not going on top. I believe this was the way it was explained to me. Comments?

Too much work for me.

If you have the time and energy it works fine the way you are doing it. If you don't, it works fine just putting it on top. Underneath probably has a slight advantage, but not enough for the effort.

 

[Jim Fischer]

I do not have the citation, but I am sure that
Jim Tew (Ohio State) does, as he has mentioned
this many times.

IT JUST DOES NOT MATTER!

They've done studies on this.
Really tedious comparisons of "top" versus
"bottom" supering. Position simply makes no
difference. The volume of empty drawn comb
available to a colony DOES make a difference, so
super 'em high, super 'em early, and harvest
early, harvest often.