Bottom Supering

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Bottom Supering

In bottom supering, supers are added under previous ones, but still on top of the brood nest. Although top supering is the more common method, some beekeepers prefer to add supers on the bottom, because partially filled supers at the very top attract bees above, into the empty super immediately above the brood nest.

A bottom super (under a partially or completely full super) can be used to induce bees to work foundation and draw combs. However, this process may take longer than working with drawn combs, reducing the amount of honey produced and encouraging bees to swarm.

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Bottom Supering (Runtime 1:48)

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Advantage of Bottom Supering

Reduces foot traffic across honeycombs - Top supering forces bees to travel much more between the brood nest and the open combs in a super. Foot traffic tends to leave stains on capped honey cells, darkening them and reducing the value of chunk or cut comb honey. Bottom supering avoids this consequence, producing cleaner honeycombs.

Disadvantages of Bottom Supering

Physically demanding work for the beekeeper - Bottom supering tends to be more work for the beekeeper. Every time you add an empty super, remove a full one, or need to check the nectar flow, you will need to take off the ones on top, add one on the bottom, and restack the supers. Given that a full super can weigh up to 70 pounds, this can be a physically strenuous process.

Queen and brood in the super - If the beekeeper does not insert a queen excluder above the brood nest, the queen may lay eggs in the bottom super and expand her brood there. This will make it difficult to gauge the nectar flow and may make it difficult to harvest the honey because of its commingling with brood.

An easy way to avoid this is to add a queen excluder or a full super right above the brood nest; the queen will not cross these barriers to lay eggs in the empty supers above.

Partially filled supers - During a light nectar-flow season, bees may not work in the upper supers, filling them only partially by the end of the season.