How many boxes to add

An awful lot can happen in a month! I would imagine you are drawing all foundation too. Sometimes bees do not like to move up into another box. I hate to tell you to stack three boxes on as it would give them a large area to control. I guess the way I would do it if I had to was to put the two empty boxes on the bottom board and put the box they are working in on the top. That way the bees can hopefully maintain a bubble of warm air at the top, which they couldn't with empty boxes on top.

I would leave no more than an inch of entrance for them so they don't get robbed out. I really hope that the flow continues and they don't starve out. A month is a long time to abandon a package pulling foundation. I might put a wet newspaper on the topbars and pour on ten pounds of granulated sugar as an insurance policy.

Thanks for input. All frames were drawn out already. There is damage to them, but in general comb is mostly there. Good point on the starve out. I just assumed flow would get stronger. Seems like a good bet but I guess you are right. Maybe I'll throw some sugar on.

I would still put the other two boxes underneath.

Other than the concerns for keeping them warm. Is moving empty boxes under the brood as effective as opening up the brood with empty frames and moving the brood up to the third box or is there still too much a concern for chilling this early in the season? (kind of checker boarding)

As long as heat rises, I would under super in such cases as you laid out. Brood numbers are totally limited by the amount of space a cluster can maintain at 93 degrees. That is why my entrances remain tight and small until nighttime temps are warm.

I try not to give them more than double their current space. If they have one deep, add one deep. If they have two deeps, add two deeps or equivalent (three mediums or four shallows).

It sounds like these were packages so there can't be more than 3 pounds of bees and Mothers Day is only 3 weeks away. If they are in a deep the most I would do is put a medium underneath. And the way things are going up here I am not sure I would do anything.

I ended up putting some sugar on them and putting boxes underneath two of three. Mini experiment I guess. Hopefully it will have a happy ending.

Vance G said:

As long as heat rises, I would under super in such cases as you laid out. Brood numbers are totally limited by the amount of space a cluster can maintain at 93 degrees. That is why my entrances remain tight and small until nighttime temps are warm.

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Never thought about that..thanks. :thumbsup: