Brood boxes

[stinger27]

Hi,
   I am a new beekeeper.  I live in eastern Kentucky.  I was just given a hive of bees about two weeks ago.  My Uncle gave them to me because a bear destroyed his super of honey.  There is only one brood box.  Is this ok?  It sure seems like they are crowded, they couldn't even fit in the hive until I installed a shallow super on top of the brood box.
     What should I do? Should I add another brood box on top of the bottom one? And should I put a surplus super on this late or not? One more question.  My bees are going in and out like crazy but there is no pollen in their baskets upon return what does this mean?  Help Please.

[Michael Bush]

>My Uncle gave them to me because a bear destroyed his super of honey.

On this hive?

> There is only one brood box. Is this ok?

As long as there is room the size of the boxes isn't critical.  Is there only one brood box with an excluder on it?  I don't know how you'd keep the brood nest open with only on box, but the queen doesn't care what SIZE the box is.

>It sure seems like they are crowded, they couldn't even fit in the hive until I installed a shallow super on top of the brood box.

Then I'd make sure there's plenty of room and also make sure there's empty space in the brood nest.

>What should I do? Should I add another brood box on top of the bottom one?

If you like.

> And should I put a surplus super on this late or not?

Is there a flow?  Do they need the room?

> One more question. My bees are going in and out like crazy but there is no pollen in their baskets upon return what does this mean?

Hard to say without looking at the brood nest.  Are there eggs?  Open brood?  Capped brood?  A queen?