Box management Query

[HoopersHouse]

Hi all

I've been following Wally Shaw's guide to box management for brood & half.

Over winter, I had my shallow brood box on top of the deep one. On my inspection, I found the brood nest to be high in the deep box & some brood in the shallow box, the remainder of the shallow box is full with capped honey stores. So, following the guide, I made sure my queen was in the deep box, I put a QX between the deep brood box & shallow brood box and put an empty shallow brood box below the deep brood box.

My question is with the capped honey that's now above the QX ie. do I need to make even more room or stop meddling?

Do I:
Leave the current full stores above the QX there for the bees?
Add a second super as the other one is full (apart from a bit of capped brood) or, is the new empty brood box enough room for now?
Wait for the brood to emerge and then harvest it
Take a few frames out and add some empty ones
Or, something completely different

Feeling very anxious to get it right as sadly I lost my other hive after the snow earlier in the year.

Thanks in advance.

Eileen

 

[john t]

i would try to keep it simple,
just add another super under the one with the capped stores, and you can either leave the capped stores in place or remove it when you are ready to take off your share of the honey

 

[enrico]

I agree with john, a new box above the queen excluder but under the nearly full super.
E

 

[DanBee]

If the bees need more than one brood box, add a second brood box, don't mess about mixing shallows and deeps. Brood and a half is a shortsighted compromise that restricts unnecessarily. It is the beekeeping equivalent of tying your shoelaces together, but of course it is presented as "a system" that quite understandably appeals to those seeking guidance, in the same way as Snelgrove's contortions for swarm control.

Get rid of that shallow from under the brood box, store it until you need a super. Add a second brood box above the first when they have 7 good frames of brood in the first one, moving a frame of open brood to the upper brood box, and treat the honey in the super as... honey in a super

Wally Shaw wrote his notes for north west Wales, not Kent; your climate and forage should allow colonies to thrive rather than merely survive. I've been inspecting colonies today with 9-12 Commercial frames of brood - equivalent to 12-16 National frames of brood - and our climate is not as good as yours.

 

[HoopersHouse]

Thanks for your replies.

Think I'll add another super for the moment as my equipment is limited being a newbee.

However, I'll take on board your points DanBee about using double deep brood for the future. I can see that the swapping of frames would be an advantage.

I've read so much since starting beekeeping that it all becomes a bit of a mush. I thought having double deep brood boxes was more for experienced beekeepers and also heavier work. I thought brood & half was the way to go.

As I say, so much to learn but grateful for all the advice.

 

[Swarm]

It can be heavier work and a big colony can be quite intimidating for a novice but if your bees need brood space, better to use one size of frame.

 

[B+.]

I've read so much since starting beekeeping that it all becomes a bit of a mush. I thought having double deep brood boxes was more for experienced beekeepers and also heavier work. I thought brood & half was the way to go.

As I say, so much to learn but grateful for all the advice.

Actually, it's more for the benefit of the bees. As you say, it can make the work heavier. However, it can also provide space for stores/brood. If all they have is a single box, where is the fresh nectar going to go?
Some (myself included) forgo the use of shallows altogether. A single size box can make everything so much simpler (everything is interchangeable). However, it can also make the stack quite tall.

 

[HoopersHouse]

Thanks for your advice.

I'll be ordering another deep brood box & frames this weekend as it does seem the way to go for the bees & swapping of frames etc

Also by using half size for brood, I wouldn't have been able to use them when splitting colonies to make other hives would I?

Hopefully all this learning will click into place soon.

Thanks again
Eileen

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