BethsBees · Ontario, CA · Beginners · Jul 10, 2026
May nuc has exploded into a full double deep — when do I add the first honey super?
Ontario, second year but first time raising a colony from a nuc instead of inheriting a going concern. Picked up a 5-frame nuc mid-May, it hit a full deep by mid-June, I added the second deep, and today's inspection shows 8 of 10 frames in that top box drawn and loaded — wall-to-wall bees, brood on 12+ frames across both boxes, nectar shining everywhere.
My gut says super NOW but my beginner brain has questions: do I wait until all 10 top-box frames are drawn (the '80% rule' says no?), does the super go on with or without a queen excluder given it's all foundation, and is there even enough season left in Ontario for them to fill it — goldenrod is still ahead, right?
Don't want to repeat my mistake from last year of adding space too late and cramping them.
#first-super#nuc#queen-excluder#hive-expansion
▲ 10 votes
💬 4 replies
✅ Solved
QuebecBees · Jul 10, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
Fellow Canadian here — super now, tonight if you could. 8 of 10 IS the 80% rule; waiting for 10/10 just invites backfilling and swarm thoughts. And yes, you have goldenrod coming, which around me is often the biggest flow of the year. A May nuc that strong can absolutely fill a super or two by September.
DrentseBij · Jul 11, 2026
On the excluder question: bees can be slow to cross an excluder onto undrawn foundation. Common trick — leave the excluder off until they've started drawing and storing in the super, then slip it in after checking the queen is below. Best of both.
GeorgiaWes · Jul 11, 2026
DrentseBij's trick works, just don't forget step two — I've seen more than one 'honey super' full of brood because someone left the excluder in the shed all July. Set a phone reminder for a week out.
Started feeding syrup yesterday and robbing broke out within an hour — how do I feed without triggering it again?
Second year in İzmir with three hives, and yesterday was awful. The hills are bone dry, nothing has flowered since July, and my smallest colony was light, so I made 2:1 a…
elif_arici · İzmir, TR · Beginners · Sep 9, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4
One year in today: everything I wish I'd known when the package arrived
One year ago today I installed my first package in a snowy Minnesota April — okay, the anniversary math is off, it was the day I ORDERED them, but let me have this. One c…
mn_newbee · Minnesota, US · Beginners · Sep 6, 2026 · ▲ 12 · 💬 5
Join 12,000+ beekeepers logging hives, asking questions, and mapping forage.
Get the Beekeeping Community app