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Author Topic: Suppering whats your preference.  (Read 1075 times)

Offline Brian MCquilkin

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Suppering whats your preference.
« on: June 16, 2021, 11:56:54 am »
Suppering whats your preference.
Are you using queen excluders with the supers on top?
When you add an extra super do you put it under the first super or on top of the first super?

I would be interested in your comments.
Despite my efforts the bees are doing great

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Suppering whats your preference.
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2021, 12:14:53 pm »
I don't use queen excluders to keep eggs out of supers, and I've never had any issues with queens laying in supers.  I usually over-super, but I'm foundationless, which means unless I have drawn comb laying around, I have to pull up drawn frames into the new super so they'll drawn straight, so I end up with the top two boxes half drawn when I add a new box.  The only time I under-super is if a super is full of honey but not capped and I'm just waiting for them to finish drying it so I can harvest.  Then that box is on the top and it's easy to just add an escape board and take that when it's ready. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline TheHoneyPump

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Re: Suppering whats your preference.
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2021, 09:26:11 pm »
STEEL queen excluder. My northern heavy haulers have to really struggle to fit through any of the plastic style. By great contrast they flow through the steel QE like water through the noodle strainer.  Steel and only ever Steel if you are going to use QE.
Under super until the first pull is ready, which is based on refractometer moisture reading. No guessing. Pull the top boxes off, leaving the lightest behind. Immediately under stack 2 to 3 empty boxes under that left behind box. Repeat 2 to 4 times, depending on the season.
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.