Do they need the double brood

[Bakerbee]

Hello all, i got a buckfast queen in may. She settled in and quickly laid into 7 frames by early june. Today theres 8 frames of bias and outer frames stores. I put on a 2nd brood box under the original at the beginning of june thinking she would need the space. But on each inspection for the whole month now the bees have only partially drawn a few frames in the bottom box and not put anything in them as yet. As i have commercial hives do i need to keep this bottom brood box on or not. Thankyou in advance for your replies i cant tell whether im being impatient or whether the size of a commercial brood is adequate for her as the brood size seems to have slowed.

 

[Beefriendly]

I find my Buckfast bees reluctant to draw out comb that is beneath the brood nest.
If you have 8 frames of brood already she probably needs double...stick 4 frames of brood (sealed is good) in the bottom brood directly underneath the other 4. And move 4 undrawn frames , 2 either side of the brood nest in the top box. The usually draw and fill with brood within a few days/week. Keep moving frames up and down as required.
Although in these unusual conditions they are filling any empty space with honey in some of mine. So watch out for that. I've never extracted as many new brood frames filled with honey as I have this season.

 

[Bakerbee]

Thanks beefriendly i will do that. They were hopelessly queenless before getting the queen. It all went wrong half way through a baily comb change when i lost my queen, so this hive has been a great resurrection success from the sorry state they were in till peters queen was ready. No spare honey for me yet but the hive is strong now and thats all that counts. May i also just say how much ive learnt from your advice on other peoples threads. Thankyou for your kindness, time and advice its greatly appreciated.

 

[Beefriendly]

My cheeks are red.....it's appreciated.
I'd also sit a super on top as well. Bee numbers are exploding at the moment and trust me these will give you honey this year....

 

[Bakerbee]

Credit where credit is due.
Yes i popped one on and put a frame of capped honey in it to encourage them up. I believe you , reading everyones posts this first year of mine, might not be the british norm i feel. Im just in love with these quiet calm bees that dont explode when i open them up, glad to be rid of the old queens genetics.

 

[Millet]

Hello all, i got a buckfast queen in may. She settled in and quickly laid into 7 frames by early june. Today theres 8 frames of bias and outer frames stores. I put on a 2nd brood box under the original at the beginning of june thinking she would need the space. But on each inspection for the whole month now the bees have only partially drawn a few frames in the bottom box and not put anything in them as yet. As i have commercial hives do i need to keep this bottom brood box on or not. Thankyou in advance for your replies i cant tell whether im being impatient or whether the size of a commercial brood is adequate for her as the brood size seems to have slowed.

I am in a similar situation with a mated F2 Romanian Queen the dates are around the same also, this Queen has gone into overdrive with seven frames of brood and the rest jam packed with store's, rather than giving them a second brood box i put a super on top of the Queen excluder with a couple of fresh extracted frames, on my last inspection on Saturday the bees have started clearing the stores from the brood box for the Queen to lay and started storing it in the supers, i will decide next Saturday if they need another brood box, either way i am getting honey from a 2018 May mated Queen so i am happy..

 

[Bakerbee]

Its clearly your year millet. That hive from your photo! Five supers, impressive. I have a super on top with a frame of honey from my freezer to encourage them. I might have been a little cautious to have gone double last month but the way she got laying was so fast i tried to stay ahead. I will let you all know how i get on.

 

[Millet]

Its clearly your year millet. That hive from your photo! Five supers, impressive. I have a super on top with a frame of honey from my freezer to encourage them. I might have been a little cautious to have gone double last month but the way she got laying was so fast i tried to stay ahead. I will let you all know how i get on.

The best of luck... not that you will need it..

 

[Machonachos]

I find my Buckfast bees reluctant to draw out comb that is beneath the brood nest.
If you have 8 frames of brood already she probably needs double...stick 4 frames of brood (sealed is good) in the bottom brood directly underneath the other 4. And move 4 undrawn frames , 2 either side of the brood nest in the top box. The usually draw and fill with brood within a few days/week. Keep moving frames up and down as required.
Although in these unusual conditions they are filling any empty space with honey in some of mine. So watch out for that. I've never extracted as many new brood frames filled with honey as I have this season.

What is the best way to clear out honey bound brood frames? Will they move the honey if you provide a super?


Cheers

Andy

 

[Beefriendly]

Spin out in extractor...and give back. ...Used to work...in this weather they are just refilling them....
This weather is not giving them time to process and move...it's all hands on deck and store where they can. It's causing problems in the brood boxes in several of my hives.
But get 1 or 2 supers on ASAP....

 

[Jambo]

What is the best way to clear out honey bound brood frames? Will they move the honey if you provide a super?

If you bruise the cappings with your hive tool they might.

 

[drex]

Especially if you move those frames into bottom brood box below the brood.