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  • What is a Bee?
  • Pollination
  • Life in a Hive
  • The Beekeeper
  • Activities

The Keeper

  • Why Do We Keep Bees? [+]
  • Types of Beekeepers
  • What Do Beekeepers Do?
  • Checking the Hives (Basic Tools)
    • Hive Inspection video
    • Tools
      • Bee Smoker
      • Hive Tool
      • Bee Brush
      • Bee Suit
      • Frame Rest
    • Health
      • Varroa Mites
      • Foulbrood
      • Colony Collapse Disorder
      • Nosema
      • Feeding
    • Queen Productivity
      • Queen Replacement
    • Swarms
      • Swarm Retrieval
    • Adding Supers
  • Harvesting Honey [+]
  • Protecting the Hive [+]
  • Record Keeping and Maintenance
  • Gathering Information

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A stack of hive boxes this high indicates an enormous honey flow. In this case, scales are being used to weigh the daily intake.

A stack of hive boxes this high indicates an enormous honey flow. In this case, scales are being used to weigh the daily intake.
© Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Beaverlodge Research Station

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A stack of hive boxes this high indicates an enormous honey flow. In this case, scales are being used to weigh the daily intake.   When nectar flow is heavy, beekeepers regularly add supers, in order to give bees more space to fill with honey.

Adding Supers

Throughout the nectar flow season (when plants produce most nectar and bees are making more honey), beekeepers need to add honey supers to the hives. Honey supers are used to collect the surplus honey that the bees don't need for winter survival and the beekeeper can sell.

If there aren't enough supers for the colony, the hive will become too crowded, and the bees will be more likely to swarm, decreasing productivity in the hive and the profits of the beekeeper.

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