Supering for Honey

It's time to make some honey! Supering simply means adding another box to your hive for the bees to fill. Do it right and you'll actually get more honey out of the same hive. Here's how I do it.

When to Add a Super

Add a box once your current top box is 70-90% full. You can judge how full a hive is by how many frames the bees are actively working. Don't wait until it's completely packed.

Why? Once a hive runs out of room, the bees slow down. A crowded hive stops gathering as aggressively and can even start thinking about swarming. Give them room to work and they'll keep bringing it in.

This Hive is ready for a honey super

Adding Your First Super

Place the super on the very top of the hive.

• If the super is foundation (not drawn comb), feed them once or twice to help them produce wax. Stop feeding once they've drawn out 3-4 frames.

• If the super is already drawn comb, do NOT feed. The bees will store the sugar syrup in the comb and adulterate your honey.

When to Add the Queen Excluder

The queen excluder goes between the brood chamber and the honey super. It keeps the queen from laying brood in your honey.

If your first super is foundation, wait before putting the excluder on. Bees don't like drawing foundation through an excluder. Let them draw out 3-4 frames of wax first, then add it.

Adding a Second (or Third) Super

If you already have a super on the hive, put the new super UNDERNEATH the old one rather than on top. This forces the bees to work it and they'll fill it faster.

Remember: add the new super when the last one hits 70-90% full. Waiting until it's completely full will slow your bees down. Always give them plenty of room to work.

A Trick to Get More Honey: Rotate Your Frames

Bees like to work the center of the hive first and then slowly move outward. You can use this to your advantage. Take the unworked frames from the edges and rotate them in between the worked frames in the center.

The bees will then focus on filling out those new center frames. It works really well, and I do it all the time. This works whether you're trying to get them to draw comb, fill out honey, or raise more brood.

Quick Recap

1. Add a super when the top box is 70-90% full.

2. First super goes on top; new supers go underneath the existing one.

3. Feed only if the super is foundation, and stop once 3-4 frames are drawn.

4. Hold off on the queen excluder until foundation is partly drawn.

5. Rotate edge frames toward the center to speed things up.

Questions about supering your hive? Drop a comment below or reach out to us at Timber Creek Apiaries.