# Latest Time to Add Honey Supers



## Phesic (May 8, 2015)

Hey Everyone,
First year bee keeper here and I was wondering when is the earliest and latest you should add honey supers to your hives? I am in central Illinois, and the clover bloom is still in full swing and I expect that goldenrod will be here relatively soon. I have two hives, both of them look like Carolina bees (bought them from Dadant) and they have been installed for 47 days and have 6 and 8 frames of the second hive body drawn, laid, and capped with honey (that is probably largely syrup as I have been aggressively feeding them). I understand that when putting a honey super on I need to stop feeding, but at this point I am just looking for general rules for when to put on and pull off honey supers. Thanks in advance!


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Phesic said:


> Hey Everyone,
> .... I understand that when putting a honey super on I need to stop feeding, ....


First, it's well past time to stop feeding them. They benefitted from the early syrup when there was little or no nectar flowing and they had little in the way of a workforce.

You are correct that they have filled the frames with mostly syrup. It is often mentioned that when putting a honey super on, one needs to stop feeding. You have been told this by people that are unaware of or ignore the fact that bees do not simply pack a cell with syrup or nectar and leave it. In ideal conditions, they spread the liquid thinly around many more cells than they need to store it as it is easier for them to evaporate the excess water. Then they move it and consolidate it in a section of the hive that suits them. 

Bees do not recognize the arbitrary distinction we make when we set a box on the hive and declare it a "honey super." They may just see it as a place to move some of that delicious syrup they received just yesterday. Trusting them to respect your boundary is like trusting the sign for the "No Peeing Section" at the local pool (as Michael Bush has often mentioned.)

So " General rules" for me: put supers on weeks after stopping feeding (even that is arbitrary) but early enough that they are on when the local flow begins. For me, that's a week or so before dandelions. Supers in the shed do not get filled with honey.

When to stop? I keep adding as necessary until the last of the fall goldenrod and asters turn brown and the bees stop visiting them. For me, that was in October last year (my first year in PA.) Before that, it was in mid to late September when I lived in Maine. 

Early summer goldenrod in Maine usually didn't offer any amount of nectar. My bees there depended on the fall crop. I don't know about your area but I believe there were over twenty varieties of goldenrod in Maine, some fairly worthless as a nectar source.

You have to watch your bees and the flowering plants around you. You need to watch those frames to see that they are bringing in nectar and you need to watch the plants and note when bees are working them and when they've given up for the season. It's all local and it's all about observation.

Good luck.

Wayne


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

I put them on just before the dandelion bloom as Wayne does. However, I have a bit more greed in my heart and experience has taught me that in my area we experience a dearth, that depending on the year can last from 3 to 5 weeks. When the blooms stop and those dry hot July days arrive I pull my supers and extract, then place them back for cleanup. In that way I prevent the bees from consuming super honey. If my weekly hive checks indicate the need I will pull the supers and place feeders on. I really try my best to get the bees to fill as much excess space with syrup as reasonable. So that when the fall Cherries and asters start I can get full benefit of the flow. And I too pull feeders a week before the flow so as not to get syrup honey.


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## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

Wayne has it right (even if he did move out of our great state) - supering is local and needs to be done in response (really more what you think will happen) to your local flows. Spend some time during the season wandering around looking for what your bees are foraging on. Most every year you will be surprised - for example it was largely too cold here when apples bloomed for honey bee pollination - but two weeks later the bees were all over the choke cherries (which they often ignore!)


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

i just stuck supers on both of my hives as none of it is drawn. I don't expect to get honey harvest out of them but just gave them extra room to grow. you shouldn't expect to take much if anything the first year. if you get a full box great but better to get them through the winter with it


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## Phesic (May 8, 2015)

Everyone,
Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize that I should have stopped feeding a long time ago. I figured that since it was a package set of bees, and I had largely undrawn foundation that I was supposed to support them until they had the first set of foragers which would be between 35 and 49 days. Is that information not correct? June 1 would have been day 35, and June 15 was day 49. I did have some work the local apple trees, blackberries, and later clover but the volume of fliers I had weeks ago compared to the volume I have now isn't comparable. Are you saying that I should not have been feeding them this long? I am just looking to learn and found that often times experience is an excellent but harsh teacher... so if you can borrow from someone else, you should do it.

Also I've heard conflicting information (about a lot of things actually) about reusing honey super drawn comb (my own) from year to year. Local bee club has said there is not a problem, but I thought that I would just ask in preparation for next year.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

If you were filling two brood boxes and getting comb drawn, you did absolutely nothing wrong and the bees benefited from the feeding by increasing their population and feed stores for this hard times. If the dearth in your area is long in duration, they will use that stored syrup and nectar You could feed and keep them built up if there is a fall or late summer flow coming. If the brood nests are adequately stocked with feed, you can put on supers and collect a crop when a flow comes. Listen to ten bears for your climate.


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