Why is it called a honey super?

Beekeepers define a super as “any upper-story hive box placed over the brood chamber for purpose of storing surplus honey.” When you look up “honey super,” Wikipedia informs us, “A honey super is a part of a commercial or other managed (such as by a hobbyist) beehive that is used to collect honey.” So, the verb “ ...

Why a honey super is called a super?

Super is short for superstructure, which refers to the boxes placed on a beehive for bees to store honey. Historically, a super was always a medium, 6 5/8-inch tall box, or a shallow 5 3/4-inch tall box. Both are traditionally referred to as supers, exclusive of the deep 9 5/8-inch box used on the bottom of the hive.

What's the difference between a brood box and a honey super?

The difference between a “brood box” and a “super” is brood boxes are used by the queen to lay eggs called brood for raising new bees. A “super” is the hive box used to store a bee's honey called a “honey super”.

What is the difference between a hive body and a super?

In the U.S., two sizes of boxes became standards: the deep and the shallow. The deep acquired the names of “hive body” and “brood box” because that is, generally, where the bees build their combs for the primary purpose of raising new bees (brood). The shallow box is also called a super.

Can you use a brood box as a honey super?

A frame that has once had brood in it can't be used as a honey super because the cells have had bee larvae in them and there may be remnants of baby bees left in the cells and your honey will be affected. However, you can use a honey frame in your brood box.

When to put a honey super on | beekeeping | honey

How long does it take for bees to fill up a honey super?

A strong colony during a strong honey flow can draw new foundation and fill a honey super in 1 week, and sometimes in 3 to 4 days. An average bee colony will take between 2 to 4 weeks, while a weaker colony will take 1 to 2 months.

Can you feed bees with supers on?

Avoid, brown sugar, beat sugar, powder sugar, or honey. Remember the bee keeper code; never feed the bees while honey supers are in place. spring to stimulate the queen to lay eggs and helps the bees draw more comb.

Can I leave a honey super on over winter?

Yes, you can leave a honey super or several on the hive over Winter. In fact, most beekeepers do have a super or two designated for use by the bees. The size of the box designated as the “food super” for the bees varies from one beekeeper to another and from one region to another.

How many supers can you put on a hive?

As a rule of thumb, you should expect to need three supers for each hive. When inspecting the hive, remember that nectar takes up three times the space of processed honey. Beekeepers should allow extra space for this early in the season. The supers are usually left on the hive until the end of the season.

When should you add a honey super?

The ideal time to add a super is during periods of natural population growth (typically, the spring), before or during a honey flow (spring or summer), or during periods of swarming (again, typically the spring). Before adding a super, beekeepers often use a standard rule of thumb, which is known as the 7/10 rule.

What is a honey super used for?

A honey super is a part of a commercial or other managed (such as by a hobbyist) beehive that is used to collect honey. The most common variety is the "Illinois" or "medium" super with a depth of 65⁄8 inches, in the length and width dimensions of a Langstroth hive.

Why are honey supers smaller?

Smaller supers mean having to add them more frequently to the hive during nectar flows and having more frames to process when extracting honey. Smaller equipment also means having to purchase and assemble more boxes and frames.

How heavy is a full honey super?

Therefore, a deep super full of honey can weight close to 70 pounds. A medium close to 50 pounds and a small 30 pounds. We only build and sell medium supers because it is more commonly used by the average beekeeper.

How many bees are in a deep super?

In a standard deep Langstroth frame, about 19 inches wide and nearly 8.5 inches deep, there are enough cells to produce 3500 or more bees per side of comb, or 7000 adult bees per frame.

How much honey is in a honey super?

A shallow super will typically yield between 25 and 30 pounds of honey, or 2 to 2 ½ gallons. A medium (6 5/8”) depth super will typically yield between 35 and 40 pounds, or 3 to 4 gallons.

Can drones pass through a queen excluder?

The idea behind a queen excluder is that the worker bees can easily pass through the wire mesh, and the queens cannot. They also exclude the drones. Beekeepers place excluders above the brood box to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey supers.

How long does it take for bees to clean a super?

If you don't want to make multiple trips, I would say 1 super can be cleaned by 1 strong hive in 2-3 hours - more or less. I just put my frames in front of my hives 3-4 hours before dark. After an hour or so of darkness, I put them in a chest freezer for 24-48 hours. Done.

When should you remove honey supers?

Removing honey supers is an essential component of preparing your beehive for winter. Supers that aren't required by your bees should be removed when temperatures cool in mid to late fall. Supers should be removed because in winter bees have formed a cluster, grouping together to conserve heat.

How do you get bees out of a honey super?

To blow bees out of honey supers, simply remove the honey super filled with bees from the hive and place it up on its end on a bench, table, or back of a truck. By directing air from the blower between the frames, the bees are blown out of the super.

What can I do with half filled honey supers?

You can put all the partially capped frames in a super above an inner cover. As long as the days remain warm enough for the bees to move around, they will move the honey from the super down close to the brood nest. If you want them to remove all of it, scratch open the capped cells.

Why won't my bees go into the Super?

Try removing the queen excluder for a week or two so that the bees can move up into the Flow super unhindered. Once the bees are working the Flow frames, you can replace the queen excluder. Always make sure that the queen is back under the queen excluder in the brood box when you return it.

Why are my bees not drawing out comb?

Bees will only draw out new comb when there is a strong nectar flow. If there's no nectar to make honey with in the super, there's no point in wasting energy on building comb that will then sit empty, right? So, if you place a super on your hive during a time of dearth, don't expect your bees to fill it.

Should I give bees sugar water?

If there are no bee-friendly flowers around, mix 50/50 white sugar and water to give the bumblebee a one-off energy boost, providing the carbohydrates it needs to fly.