Avoiding syrup in honey supers.

[Jif5]

Hello,

What is the consensus on how long after feeding with syrup can a super can be put on the hive?
The reason I ask is that I hived day strong swarm in a 14 x 12 and fed with light syrup (1:1). This was readily taken down and stored (in the last two weeks of may) a week after I finished feeding I put on the first super that is now 90% full and being capped. Is there a risk that the bees will have moved up stored syrup to the super to make space for brood?

Thanks

 

[enrico]

Basically... Yes, a risk you take!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hello,

What is the consensus on how long after feeding with syrup can a super can be put on the hive?
The reason I ask is that I hived day strong swarm in a 14 x 12 and fed with light syrup (1:1). This was readily taken down and stored (in the last two weeks of may) a week after I finished feeding I put on the first super that is now 90% full and being capped. Is there a risk that the bees will have moved up stored syrup to the super to make space for brood?

Thanks

As I understand it feeding a swarm 1:1 after 3 days is to provide fuel to make wax to build comb or to keep bees alive in times of dearth. If you gave them enough to put into store you gave too much. If there is good foraging feeding should not be necessary - no one fed bees before humans started keeping them and no one feeds feral colonies.

 

[Chris B]

Feed a nuc or a swarm and watch what they do. You will see they leave themselves empty cells for their broodnest - they are well aware they want to expand the nest. By feeding them you are not clogging up the broodnest (this is a problem encountered by small colonies coming out of winter). It's easy to prove this to yourself, just take notes of % stores per frame at each inspection, and see how it changes (or not) as the colony expands onto new frames. It will only be the outer frame that changes. So just stop feeding before the last frame is worked and the risk of syrup in supers is as good as nil, especially if those supers only contain foundation.
The benefit of feeding a young colony is huge. If a bee only needs to walk a few inches for it's forage, rather than fly for it, then it will achieve much more in it's lifetime.