Super not being used

[SusanC]

Please can anyone give me some advice - I've checked my hive today who are on brood and a half - I put a super on two weeks ago but as yet they are not using it - the bees are all clustering at the entrance - is this normal or should I be panicked?

 

[sharonh]

Hi Suzan,
Just a few questions ? Has your super drawn wax or new undrawn wax. Secondly did you put on a q excluder? Are the frames in the brood box full?
Sharon

 

[Heather]

If the super is fresh foundation bees are sometimes reluctant to go up.
Take the QE out for a week. Recheck.
They should have gone up by then and be drawing out. If a very busy hive and you find the Queen has gone up too, gently return her to the brood box and then put QE on

 

[Midland Beek]

What you could do is take one or two honey-only frames (assuming there are one or two) from the super you are using for brood and stick them upstairs - in the middle of the box. And then put frames with foundation in their place. Check any frames you move above the queen excluder to make sure that the queen is not on them.

If your bees have oilseed rape I wouldn't think they need the entrance block in at all.

 

[SusanC]

Yes the frames do have fresh foundation in them - the queen excluder is in - do I take it out?

 

[Davelin]

I would do as MB advises; ie move a couple of drawn frames from brood box up to middle of super.
They can be reluctant to move onto fresh foundation.
Removing Q Ex may make it easier for them to move, the worst that can happen is the queen will start to lay up there, but if she does simply move her down and put excluder in. Brood will hatch and they should then use the super for stores.

 

[SusanC]

Is the fact they are huddled round the entrance an issue - the entrance block is out as they have been on the OSR

 

[charlievictorbravo]

You might care to read a thread that I started last week when I had the same problem - http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28801

Lots of advice there and some of it might fit your situation

CVB

 

[oliver90owner]

Have you checked for queen cells? Inactivity may mean they are preparing for departure.

A good ploy to move up a couple of stores frames from the shallow brood, or even a couple brood frames as long as the nest shape is not compromised.

Without information of the current frame use, it is difficult to address the real cause, rather than just making guesses.

 

[sharonh]

Yes the frames do have fresh foundation in them - the queen excluder is in - do I take it out?

Hi Susan,
They can be reluctant to move up. Sometimes it's best to leave your queen excluder off for a few days.
Another trick is to freshen the wax with a hair dryer , after removing naturally first.
Another trick that I used this year, was to spray the wax with some sugar water to encourage them up through q excluder.worked for me but I had some drawn wax.
Another thing, that might be worth checking out if nothing else works, is that the q excluder is correct with correct size slots.
Some had trouble with that.
Sharon

 

[SusanC]

Thank you all for your advice - I've moved a couple of frames from the shallow brood to the super so let's see what the girls think now!

 

[Finman]

.
Bees occupy a new box when they are ready to do that. Moving frames and forging them to enlarge the hive is worst what you may do. If bees cannot keep warm all brood, they will destroy even 30% of them.

If you put the box under the brood box, bees move there when they are ready. Then you need not to know what is proper time.

If you use same size of boxes, you may move all food frames to the middle of lower box and then put foundations or empty combs to upper box.

 

[Finman]

.
Climate difference?
We have same day temperatures in these days as London

 

[AugustC]

Try warming the foundation a little so it gets a nice fresh smell AND/OR remove the foundations from one of the frames and just put in a small starter strips at the top, 1 inch or so is fine. Bees sometimes seem happier to move up and drawer new comb in an empty frame.