Another super

I put the new (empty) hive on site today, though all blocked up to prevent any insect invaders of any sort. It's just easier having kit on site to prevent my house being completely taken over with beekeeping kit and paraphernalia. As it is I still have the bits to make up 20 more super-frames sitting on the drawers in my bedroom, and I have no idea where the big vat for honey extraction (and associated smaller tubs) will find a home. That's two hives I have on site now, one of which is currently empty but I hope to populate soon.

Anyhow, whilst on site I lost my bottle and, despite it being a mere 4 days since I last inspected the hive, my concern regarding whether the bees had enough room got the better of me. Without taking any frames out for inspection, I whacked the roof and crownboard off, put on a queen extractor and another new super full of frames, and closed up the hive again. So I'm now running with "brood-and-a-half" for the queen, with a further single super above the queen excluder. From the very quick glance I got I certainly saw that there were very many bees in the brood super, but I could not see much built out comb on the frames in that box. I'm hoping this super-addition is not premature, but I'm not sure what harm it can do. It gives me the comfort that the bees have lots of space for now as they build up their colony. I plan not to open the hive up again till a weekend after next.