I’m in the Yarra Ranges in Victoria Australia and my hive is ramping up for the spring. We had a run of great weather and it was time for a new box (frames over 80% full). I opted to put on the flowframe super with queen excluder.
Unfortunately the weather has turned again with overnight lows at 3-5 degrees. I know that the queen cant go through the excluder and would be left behind if the bees go into the top box to huddle for warmth. Should I take off the super in this cold bout, or should it be ok. What overnight temps do keepers tend to worry about with queen excluders?
I don’t think that you need to worry, if there is brood in the lower boxes. Bees tend to cluster where the honey is too, so if your Flow super is empty, it is very unlikely that they would go up there to cluster, leaving behind brood and food.
Thanks Dawn. That’s a load off. In general, when do you tend to put your supers and queen excluders back on in spring? is it after the “last frost” dates? Assuming the hive is ready for more storage of course
I don’t have frost in California, but we certainly did in the UK. I don’t use the weather as a “metric”. If the brood box(es) are at least 80% full of food or brood, the hive is full of bees and the queen is actively laying, it is time for a super. The overnight temperatures are not as important as those factors.
