Supering for the honey flow

[Gary B]

I was wondering what the state of supering is for everyone. Have people already "supered up," or do you typically wait until Apr?
In the past I put supers on the 1st of April and it seemed to work pretty well, although I may miss a little bit of Maple or Holly. I typically want to leave my feeders on as long as possible and then pull them all prior to the flow.

[mike91553]

Don't go by a calendar, go by the bees and super before they get close to running out of room. I supered some this week, some last week, a couple in early March and will do more the next 2 weeks. I have 2 hives with a super half full today.

[Jacobs]

I did a small round of extracting last week (15 medium frames). I put the cappings out this morning, and based on the interest the bees are showing, the flow at the house has slowed considerably. I wonder if it is going to end early this season.

[ski]

I am seeing foragers going out but also see more bees hanging around line dancing.
I put shallow supers on at least 3 weeks ago with some of them being just thin surplus foundation. A quick check today showed that not only have they not drawn out any of the shallows but they are steeling wax.
Maybe the warm weather this week will get a bit of nectar flowing again but I do think that the main flow may be over with minor clover flows remaining.

[mike91553]

Today should tell. I hope they find some nectar but I'm sure the strong flow is over.

[SmithN]

I think the dearth is going to be early this year, Tulip poplars (the major flow) in my area have very few blooms left on them.
My bees are showing interest in the white clover, I seen about a dozen bees working it today!
The bees usually won't go to the white clover until there's not much left to work.
I think in a week or so I'll get my extracting equipment ready.

[mike91553]

Road bandits searching for a victim. My yard is loaded with them now.

[Jacobs]

I am convinced the main flow is over at my house. I can still work bees without setting off robbing, but the bees really went to extracting equipment David and I rinsed off Monday morning. They are taking about as much diluted honey water as I care to put out. I like to rinse the extracting equipment and collect the honey water for feeding back to the bees rather than letting it go to waste.

I expect to have robbing start at any time and will adjust my hive working habits accordingly.

[donwal]

I set out 3 quart jars of sugar water on Tuesday and 4 quart jars of sugar water on Wednesday, both were gone in one day. Robbing started at my yard on Sunday and I to put on robber screens to stop it. I'm setting the "feeding stations" far away from the hives to try to help the robbing at the hives. It seems to be helping.

[donwal]

The open feeding is working...robbing at the hives has stopped. Refilled the jars that I set out on Wednesday morning. Set the out at 8:30 last night (Thursday, 06/09/16). I set out 3 quart jars and 1 half gallon jar of sugar water, the bees started feeding as soon as I put the jars out. At 7 am Friday morning they were already feeding from the jars. When I got home at 5:30, I checked to see how much had been taken, all jars were almost empty. I'm going to refill the jars and set back out on Saturday morning.

[Slmoore]

Is this the correct time to put the top feeder back on? Installed March 26 and now have 4 supers.......top one has comb in all frames and spotty honey cells........I haven't seen any eggs yet.

Should I add the top feeder now?

[Wally]

The top super could have 3 full, or 3 empty supers below it. We need to know the overall condition before we can advise.

[Slmoore]

There are three full supers below it. I am concerned about this heat this week and next........and how or if I should do anything to help the bees?

I may have an inaccurate source....but will the bees tend to stay in the hive and try and cool it and not forage as much?

[Wally]

A medium frame will hold approx. 3 lb. of honey. You only need about 40 lb. to get through winter. That's about 7 frames. It sounds like yours has more food than it needs. No need to feed any more.

[Slmoore]

Thanks Wally!

[Jacobs]

7 times 3 = 40?

[Wally]

In mid June, YES.
In Oct., NO.

[Jacobs]

I have been smelling nectar in front of my home hives for the last 4-5 days. The stronger hives have foragers flying out quickly and in force. In the evening, these hives have bees fanning on the landing boards. Is anyone else seeing these signs of a nectar flow?

[ski]

Yes, I have also been smelling a sweet smell around the hives with a lot of foragers as well as fanning just inside the entrance.
Planning on a visit tomorrow to see whats going on inside more supers needed, swarm cells?

I don't think the tulip poplar is even blooming yet.

[herbcoop]

Same here, lots of activity and fanning, some are still bringing in pollen. Looking forward to going in tomorrow or Sunday, I already have new shallows on hoping for them to draw out the comb, then I'll have drawn out comb to add when necessary