Bottom brood box full of pollen

thibault · Jul 5, 2018

This hive is from an AS, they are on 22 frames (2 brood boxes), the queen got mated and started to lay on the 18/06, the top box has 8 frames of capped brood, 1 or 2 frames with eggs and bias. The lower box is 70% full of pollen and about 30% nectar & capped honey, no brood at all. I have added a super without a queen excluder (frames are not drawn). What would you advise me to do? Swap the boxes? Leave it as it is?

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Karsal · Jul 5, 2018

thibault said:
This hive is from an AS, they are on 22 frames (2 brood boxes), the queen got mated and started to lay on the 18/06, the top box has 8 frames of capped brood, 1 or 2 frames with eggs and bias. The lower box is 70% full of pollen and about 30% nectar & capped honey, no brood at all. I have added a super without a queen excluder (frames are not drawn). What would you advise me to do? Swap the boxes? Leave it as it is?

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I cannot see any point in messing about with a colony that is obviously in good shape and doing what bees do naturally. It's obviously the way they want to live as a colony. Let them get on with it. They've done what they want and it may not suit your idea of the way to do it, but some of us bee keepers bugger about to much as to how we want it. They won't come to any harm.

beeno · Jul 5, 2018

The 8 frames of imminent nurse bees will soon gobble it all up!

Millet · Jul 5, 2018

My double broods are the same or similar, top brood box full of bees/brood but the bottom full of stores, i will leave them too it as long as they keep filling the supers above, less feed needed for this winter m thinks..

mickbees23 · Jul 6, 2018

All sounds good to me. The extra space for pollen seems to stop them putting it in the first super which is good. I would leave them to it, they know best

thibault · Jul 6, 2018

Many thanks for all your good answers, let see if they draw and fill that super, and I did not think about all these little mouth soon emerging who are gonna be hungry

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