Brood Addition vs Super

Beekeeping - Basics How many brood boxes do I need?
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Hello, Newbee here … have a FlowHive 2+ and the addition of my Nuc was great with good results. Thinking I had too much activity and trying to avoid a swarm, I added a 2nd Brood Box. The bees are still working well, but not to the level they first were. Outer frames of 2nd Brood are not being worked much and now I am second guessing the addition of the 2nd Brood. Should I try to consolidate the broods and remove #2 then add a Super? For Texas, we get a little chilly in the north where I live. When does Super need to bee added? When do you stack Brood+Super+Brood?

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Hello and welcome to the Flow forum! :blush:

If you haven’t tried it already, may I suggest that you use the Search tool for the Forum - magnifying glass at the top of the screen? Others have asked similar questions in the past, and you may find some helpful comments that way.

Meanwhile, here are some thoughts for you:

  1. The time to add any new box (brood or super) is when all frames have mostly drawn comb, are 80% full of food (honey/pollen) or brood and completely covered with bees. If any of those is not true, the colony is probably not ready for a new box to heat, defend from pests and raiders, or use for themselves. :wink:
  2. Only add a super when the bees have filled whatever brood boxes you think they need. If your second brood box still has empty frames at the outer edges, they don’t need a super. You should not leave the super on over winter. You can in a sub-tropical or tropical climate, but there are many great reasons not to do so in your climate. Give the bees 2 full brood boxes instead. The slow down that you are seeing may be due to dry weather and a nectar dearth. Even if plants are flowering, it doesn’t mean that they are producing nectar. The bees don’t need more space if that is the case, but they may need more food. Having said that, never feed with a super on the hive!
  3. Brood+Super+Brood in that order? I would never do that. Brood+brood+super is the standard method. Always keep the super on top, above the queen excluder. When fall comes, remove any supers and the queen excluder.

Hope that helps :blush:

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Thanks for your advice about Forum search and about my question!

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