Not sure what I do next hive is very full of bees

Beekeeping - Basics
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Hello,
Last year was my first year with a flow hive. At the end of summer I added another brood box because it looked so full. The super was filled with capped honey and the bees went up and took all the honey out and took it to the brood box. I currently have 1 brood box and 1 super. There are a lot of bees in the box what should I do. Should I put on another super? I don’t want them to swarm. Should I split them? Take some frames out of the brood box and put them in another box. I’m not sure what to do at this point. The honey is being capped in the super. Appreciate any help. Thanks,Pam

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Not really enough info to give you definitive advice. Here is what I would like to know if it was my hive, or you were my mentee:

  1. How many % are the Flow frames capped? E.g. 20%, 50%, 80%? Middle frames 90% or more?
  2. What happened to your second brood box? With your climate, I would have put that back in March or April and let them fill it before putting the Flow super back on.
  3. Any queen cells in the brood box?
  4. Is the brood box honey bound or does the queen still have space to lay?

I would like to help you, but I don’t have a good mental picture of what is going on in your hive at this point :blush:

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I’m a fan of what you currently have, 1 brood/ 1 super. I’m in a different climate to you, however I believe that beekeepers in a similar climate to yours manage with a single brood box.

I would be managing the brood like you suggest: Split, or remove frames of brood.

Splitting & or removing frames of brood is my preferred way to manage swarming. I try not to do it after sighting queen cells, I do it before queen cells appear It’s a preemptive swarm control management strategy. Sometimes I have no choice, on account that queen cells can appear.

My bees have access to the roof cavity, via a hive mat with a bee space all around. If I find a lot of bees occupying the roof cavity, for me it’s time to split. Especially if the bees are hanging there doing nothing. During spring & summer I lift the roof at least once a fortnight, in order to check on the progress of the population growth.

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Thanks for your reply. I will check the hive and look for all the answers to your questions.

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I want to split the hive but the flow hive boxes and not the same size as my langstroth boxes. Where can I get boxes to fit my flow hive. The flow hive frames are taller

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It sounds like your langstroth boxes are ideal or half size. The brood frames in a Flow Hive are deep size. So you should be able to use this terminology to find a matching box. Otherwise you can find brood box on our website. Brood Boxes - Flow Hive US

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In US terms, that means Langstroth mediums… :blush:

Flow hive boxes are Langstroth deeps. As @KieranPI implies, they are about twice as deep as the mediums.