Adding the Honey Super

As soon as the cherry blossoms and the nectar flow begins, the colony gets its honey super. The rule of thumb is about six to eight well-occupied brood combs, that is, around four fifths of the box. Better a few days too early than too late: if there is no room during the flow, the brood nest gets clogged with honey and swarming fever sets in.

A queen excluder between brood chamber and honey super is common practice, so that the queen stays below. To help the bees take to the new space quickly, it helps to hang a drawn comb or an uncapped honey comb up top.

Important: from now on, no treatment products that could get into the honey. And fill the boxes so that the bees draw out the combs without gaps.

All terms at a glance