[doodlebug]

This may sound like a real newbee question and thats because it is! How do you know its time to put on a honey super vs. another super for population increases? I mean when you apply a super, do the bees make the decision as to what goes in it? How do you/they know its time to put honey in it? Do you use a queen excluder to keep eggs from being layed there and hope they put honey in it? And if you use a queen excluder do you always use one when you are trying to get honey? Are there any signs that tell you its time to put on a honey super? I know they are probably very elementary questions, but I've never seen the answers.:scratch: Thank you in advance for any answers!

 

[drlonzo]

Lets see if we can find you some easy answers. The bees will decide when they have enough area for brood rearing. Most Beekeepers are using either a combination of 2 Deeps, or 3 mediums for the brood area. How to know when it is time to put the next chamber on, simple wait till the bees have pulled 80 precent of the previous frames with wax/brood and then start what is called "Opening the brood nest". This will get you the population of bees to get the honey. If you plan to be using foundation or not the bees tend NOT to like to go past the queen excluder till the wax has been drawn in the honey supers. Most Beeks aren't even using queen excluders anymore. Queens normally don't cross a honey barrier to get to open cells unless she's after drone cells. Same signs apply with knowing when to put on honey supers as does with swarming. When and if they start backfilling brood area in the frames with nectar...