Hi Jim,
SHB! Yeah, we don`t have them. Quite another matter. Sure that flex does not have that problem, either.
Hi flex,
end of June is really late for a swarm. never heard of that around here! In my rather chilly home-site we MAY have swarming beginning end of May, running into June. usually not at all...
at the warmer site the bees are at they would be at it already if it wasn`?t for a cool and rainy spell we got at the moment. latest end of April till end of May.
Adding (too much) room doesn`t really help. You need to give ENOUGH room. they should not have to clog up the brood-nest with honey. still means one can save on room somewhat.
give a super with drawn comb when the hives are really broiling with bees when you open the lid, the lid all covered with bees and dropping off when you take it off.
give a super also, when flow comes in and the upper frames in the brood-boxes are filling. if you got cherries (lots) , bloom of cherry will be the time. otherwise... maybe dandelion? maybe canola? lots of maple?
if the bees don`t need it for their number or for storing honey, it is just a nuisance to them and it will stay empty (few bees running around).
I like to have my boxes broiling with bees up to the top. makes for dryer honey, too. Also like my supers full...not half empty combs in the extraction room.
at my home, I usually super not before mid-may, when forest-honey may start. at the other site, I supered on the 31st of March. cherry. So YOU will have to decide. no recipes there....
adding empty supers is useless.
your site is too moist. it won`t cause hive deaths, but a weak develepemnt in spring and fall. less honey, less fun.
you are probably right about the cause for late swarming: package bees over and over. when the hives grow large, take a couple brood-combs with bees to make a split. get a queen cell from somewhere so it will have a good queen.
treating with sugar is not enough. might as well pray (only). (like a priest in our valley once said to a lady asking him for advice: her garden wouldn`t produce, although she prayed all the time for it. so the priest looked at it and said: "it takes some manure, too.") I use organic acids only. no "chemicals". but do whatever is best and easiest for you.
I wish you good health, but to your bees, too! if you keep them, they are your responsibility.