Ahoney super is a part of acommercial or other human-managedbeehive that is used to collecthoney. The most common variety is the "Illinois" or "medium" super with a depth of 65⁄8 inches, in the length and width dimensions of aLangstroth hive.
A honey super consists of a box in which 8–10frames are hung.Western honeybees collect nectar and store the processed nectar inhoneycomb, which they build on the frames. When the honeycomb is full, the bees will reduce themoisture content of the honey to 17-18% moisture content before capping the comb withbeeswax.
Beekeepers will take the full honey supers and extract the honey. Periods when there is an abundantnectar source available and bees are quickly bringing back thenectar, are called ahoney flow. During a honey flow, beekeepers may put several honey supers onto a hive so the bees have enough storage space.
Honey supers are removed in the fall when the honey is extracted, and before the hive is winterized, but enough honey is left for the bees to consume during winter.
The queen is kept out of the super with aqueen excluder, a device that lets worker bees through, but through which she is too big to pass. This prevents her from laying eggs (thus producingbrood comb) in the super. The area of lower levels in which she is allowed to lay eggs is called thebrood box. A brood box is similar to a super but tends to be deeper (taller).
Using3⁄4 inch wood the outside dimensions are 197⁄8" × 161⁄4" × height. In the metric system 25mm wood may be used, which makes the outside dimensions 515mm × 425mm × height.[1]
| Size or type | Inside (183⁄8" × 145⁄8") and height in inches | Metric 465 × 375 and height in millimeters | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 frame Comb Honey Super | 43⁄4 | 121 | Ross Rounds need 41⁄2" Super |
| 10 frame Shallow Super | 53⁄4 | 146 | |
| 10 frame Medium depth Illinois Super | 65⁄8 | 168 | |
| 10 frame Large depth Super | 75⁄8 | 193 | |
| 10 frame Deep | 95⁄8 | 244 |
Media related toHoney supers at Wikimedia Commons