# brood in honey super



## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

So this year I left all my queen excluders in the garage and now I'm paying the price. I checked a hive today only to find 5 beautiful frames of brood in the honey super. I won't get back to this hive for another week, and at that point I plan to make sure the queen isn't in the honey super and then install a queen excluder. In a couple of weeks my problem should be solved, right? Should I do anything else?


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## David Stewart (Jan 22, 2005)

If all your boxes are the same size you can move the brood filled frames down into a lower box and if a lower box contains capped honey, move that up. I've got the same issue in a couple of my hives as but I'll just swap out frames as described above since all my boxes are the same.

Luck,
David


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The "Price" was that the queen found a place to lay and they didn't swarm.


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## IndianaHoney (Jun 5, 2006)

I would think that this would clear its self up as the season progresses.


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

I've got a couple of hives right now in the same condition. I don't mind since these hives are normally the strongest and they produce the most honey. This condition is a result of a prolific queen doing what she does best, laying a lot of eggs.

As the bees hatch out in these frames the workers will fill them with nectar and force the queen to lay in lower boxes.


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## Rob S (Nov 8, 2005)

I found a few cells of capped drone brood which I wiped out with the hive tool. Onward and Upward...


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Are you ready to extract? If not, leave them alone. When they hatch the bees will fill them with honey and all is right with the world. I'll take more brood early anytime and let the bees force the queen down when the flow really gets cranked.


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## LT (Aug 17, 2006)

What if the main flow is over? I have 2 hives that have gone to the 2nd top super and have 3 middle frames of beautiful brood with a small cap of honey at the top. The main flow is over and was wanting to rob some honey. Help is appreciated.


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## dickm (May 19, 2002)

I think the problem is what's going on below the "honey supers." The bees don't know they are for honey. They normally expand the brood nest up. Are the 2 deeps full of brood? If so, this super is now part of the brood chamber. If not, it's too late to do much to get it back down. If you find the bottom deep is empty or honey bound, (as I suspect) Then move it up to the top and put the other 2 boxes on the bottom. 

The way to get a broodless super is to make sure the queen isn't in it and put it above a queen excluder. They will fill in the brood cells, with honey, as they emerge. 

The trick is to keep room in the brood nest while giving room for honey storage. Empty honey supers on top do not do anything for the brood chamber.

Dickm


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

>make sure the queen isn't in it and put it above a queen excluder<

Or, you can move that super to the top of the stack...above the full supers.


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## kbee (Mar 6, 2005)

If you move the super with brood above the other supers will the queen still be moved down to the hive bodies? Will she move down across mostly filled/capped frames?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

>Will she move down across mostly filled/capped frames?


Yes


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

Be careful moving the queen. I once tried to force them to move down into the bottom box. I found the queen and put her down below and placed the queen excluder on top and closed everything up.

She apparently was abandoned by the cluster on the following cool nights and she died. The bees will cluster around the brood when it is cool and sometimes they will abandon their queen. 

Apparently I should have included one frame of brood down below with the queen and then some bees would have stayed down there with her and kept her warm and fed.

My mistake, but a truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others. You can learn from mine.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Be careful moving the queen.

I've made the same mistakes and had several different outcomes, from losing the queen, them raising one above the excluder to success. I wouldn't recommend putting a queen across an excluder without some open brood with her.


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