I have had the super on since May 17th. Yes I have seen bees in the super crawling around but no evidence of the frames getting filled.
Is there a way to entice them to fill the frames that will not jam the mechanism in the frame that allows the honey to run out thru the tubes.
Bill
Hey Bill, how full is your brood box? Did it have full frames all drawn out and lots of bees in the brood box when you added the super? Sometimes to encourage the bees to move upstairs you can take some of the excess wax from some of your frames and rub it across the flow frames a bit just to spread the smell and wax around. You don’t need a ton, but the bees will move up to clean it up and then take advantage of the new space they might not have cared about before. This happens with new flow frames more than used ones so you won’t have to keep doing that after the first season in my experience. So if your brood box is healthy and booming they should move up no troubles with that encouragement. If your brood box isn’t full out booming it might be that you put the super on too early. Take pictures of the brood frames and your entire setup so we can see what you see-- it helps a lot in diagnosing things.
The Brood Box was full when I added the Super.
Bill
Hiya Bill, as Tim said rubbing burr wax onto the frames seems to help the bees to accept the Fframes but if they don’t need them yet it’s just extra conditioning space for them.
Have they started to build out the cells yet? Keep in mind they will start from the centre of the box and work out.
As Tim has said preparing the Flow Frames by rubbing or brushing on some melted wax will really encourage the bees to working on them. When the colony needs extra space they will go up into the super even if the frames have not any wax on them. The bees will usually work on the inner frames first so don’t rely on the window as a first sign of activity in the super. When I first set up my Flow Supers I waxed some frames and some I only washed in soapy water and rinsed, it was evident from that the bees were attracted to the frames that I had brushed melted bee wax on.
Cheers Bill.
The brood box frames were filled out before I put on the super.
I have not looked in the middle of the super frames.I have only looked from the side window and the opening where you harvest the honey.
When I look down the middle of the frames there are not many bees in the Super.
Bill
i don’t rely on the windows to assess what is happening in the hives. The bees will use the super when they are out of storage space in the brood box. They store honey and nectar close to the brood area first, then when all the cells are being used they will use the super Bill.
Cheers
Hi Bill, there’s a considerable amount of waxing the bees need to do before any nectar can be stored in the Flow frame. If your colony just started this spring, that might be all they can accomplish before dearth and end of season. My guess is they just don’t have the resources to prepare this extra storage space, and are up there mainly to patrol for pests. Just watch for propolis deposits in the cracks - that’s your sign to whip that super off ASAP.
Thank You Eva
I will keep watch of their progress.
Bill
I pulled the super off and looked at the brood where I can see capped off honey cells. All the frames are filled out except two that are 90% filled out. Will I not get any activity in the super this season since there are only a few bees in the super. I have tried the suggestions of spraying sugar water on the frames and putting wax on the frames with no activity.
Hello Bill, I think you added the super too early when your saying you found 2 frames not built out so they were not put to use. The brood box is needing to be packed out with bees, all the frames in it in use for brood and stores before adding a super. A bee colony will concentrate its efforts as close as possible to the brood area.
I would check out with other bee keepers in your area as to the use of a single, a single and a medium or a double brood set up for your climate, that will depend of the temperature and length of your Winter.
I didn’t find spraying Flow Frames a success in having the bees work in the super other than to take up the sugar water and move it down into the brood. I experimented with my new Flow Frames and found that brushing on melted wax was a help supply them with wax to seal the gaps in the frames quicker.
If the bees are not working in the super it is that they don’t need the super, either the colony isn’t big enough or they don’t need the room for stores.
Cheers
Hey Bill, what Peter said, plus there is probably a nectar dearth in your area now.