I have the access reducer in place. The hive is very active with frequent congestion at the entrance.
I have only the brood box at the moment (anticipating the super box added probably September).
Any suggestions?
Hi Seli, I am new to beekeeping but hope this might help, my nuc. had only been installed about a month and consisted of 5 frames which I put in an 8 frame flow hive. I saw, what I thought could be the beginning of an attack from robber bees, So I rolled a metal fly screen into a tight roll and wedged it into the hive entrance, leaving an much reduced opening, which makes defending easier and is often used when colonies are just starting out and building up there numbers. Being hot & humid in the Northern Rivers, N.S.W. I thought it would help ventilation better than a solid excluder.
This seemed to work fine for me, no more fights witnessed and the fly screen stayed in place until the bees filled out all frames and began bearding on the hottest days. By this time the bees covered the hive opening and I think we’re able to dislodge the screen, which got pushed over the landing board, and had the numbers to defend the whole entrance. I watch the landing board whenever I get the chance and have retrieved the discarded fly screen roll just incase I need it again 
If you think they are congested, you could adjust your reducer, if it is adjustable, or remove it and insert something smaller that allows a bigger entrance while still reducing the whole entrance, or take the reducer off completely and get ready to reinstall if you see any dramas. I’m no expert but hope this helps 
Thanks for your advice
Much appreciated
Regards,
Geoff Iles
Hi @Seli, just an update for you, my hive swarmed this morning, I had put the super on Jan 10th, did think there was a lot of bees in the hive, but last inspection spent too long fixing comb and no time checking for swarm cells! My bad, lesson learnt.
If you have plenty of bees on all your frames, add the super (it’s still summer on Northern Rivers, Autumn round the corner, but with relatively mild winters, supers are often left on for our winters).
Hope this helps