Double brood boxes

[BKF Admin]

I am thinking I may put 2 brood boxes on a couple of strong colonies next year.

Double brood boxes,good or bad idea ?

 

[Frisbee]

Ooooh - good question Admin. . . . one of my mentors swears by doubles (well he did but he's changed from Nationals) so i will be interested in the opinions.

Frisbee

 

[Finman]

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I put so much as queen can lay.
If the queen does not lay 2 boxes, it is a bad one.
For big hives I use 3 brood boxes. Usualyy the lowest is empty of brood but it gives room for foragers at night and pollen store.

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Why make things complicated! If they are getting that big just expand.

Now brood boxes as supers, thats my plan.

 

[Finman]

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I do no use excluder. I use Langtroth and 2/3 medium as supers.
I use brood boxes for honey too.

This is ideal size hive. It needs good pastures. Bees can put here 80-90 kg honey + 2 boxes brood.

 

[mikeyspikey]

We have one colony out of eight on a double brood and went through the Oxalic dribbling today. They are the strongest colony by a long way judging by the number of bees in the hive. That is in a WBC. All the others are on a brood and a half and are OK but less prolific. So you choose, I think I know what we will be doing next year.

 

[Finman]

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My main yield plant is summer rape. It needs large hives that they can store nectar to rippen and cap the huge nectar flow.

If hive is not bigg enough, I join weak hives or bee filled boxes. That i do when main yield begins.

Small hives are full in couple of days and then they swarm.

 

[Bcrazy]

I swear by double brood chambers when using Nationals.
With the mix match of progeny from the queens there is always a need for extra room for the queen to lay. I don't advocate a brood chamber and half (super) because its a waste of a super when a brood chamber will suffice.
With double brood box you will have to check to make sure the queen has free access to top and bottom box. I have seen double broods with a QE in between the boxes.
Please remember there is a correct way to look for the queen when using two brood chambers. That's not for me to tell you, you will have to find out, and the reason why.

It's very satisfying to see so many bees throbbing in one hive when using a double brood chamber.

Regards;

 

[Polyanwood]

I swear by double brood chambers when using Nationals.
That's not for me to tell you, you will have to find out, and the reason why.

Do you mean that you can easily squash her by accident?

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi Polyanwood

No. But there is a correct way and a reason behind doing the manipulation the correct way.
Many beekeepers are frightened to hold a queen between their fingers, but you have to if your marking her or clipping.

Regards;

 

[Polyanwood]

Hello again Bcrazy.

think I've got wires crossed... does not compute

So if you have double brood box, there is more need to pick the queen up b between your fingers?? is that what you are saying. If so why?

 

[BKF Admin]

Please remember there is a correct way to look for the queen when using two brood chambers. That's not for me to tell you, you will have to find out, and the reason why.

Bcrazy I think Poly was looking for an answer to this part of your post.

 

[Bcrazy]

I said I would not tell how to conduct a hive inspection using a double brood chamber.
It's nothing to do with handling the queen more to do with making sure she does not escape. Think about it.

Regards;

 

[Finman]

With double brood box you will have to check to make sure the queen has free access to top and bottom box. I have seen double broods with a QE in between the boxes. ;

It is at least one method n swarming preventing. When one box is full of brood, queen start to lay empty combs under excluder,

One way is that after main yield you add excluder and let queen lay only in one box for winter.

I like to have 2-box wintering box hive, but on average only 50% reach that size for winter. It depends much how they get pollen in August.

 

[Frisbee]

It's nothing to do with handling the queen more to do with making sure she does not escape. Think about it.

Is it to not put a brood box on the floor if it may have the queen in it?
So you would need to find the queen to make sure you knew where she was and then possibly cage her (?) before you put the brood box away from the OM floor to inspect the other one?

 

[Finman]

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Early yield

I have noticed that If I want early yield from dandelion and fruit trees, I need a 2 store wintering hive. One store hives develope so slowly that their foragers and nurser bees are not in balance to get surpluss.

So I need a good queen and 2 store brooding that I get maximum size wintering cluster.

If the queen is good and the colony small, it needs all food for brood rearing.

I have used often rood brake during main yield. It means that I kill the queen.
But that kind of hive is difficult get strong for winter.

 

[Norton]

Hello,
In our area we only use one broodchamber - 10 Langstroth frames.

From experiments done here and in Israel this is by far the best solution, If you have bees with a low swarming instinct they do not need more.

We know that a queen lays about 1,500 eggs a day, If you do some simple calculations you will find that TOTAL brood area is contained in less than five complete frames, so why give them 20 or 30 frames.

The bees and queen organise the brood area in the broodchamber with the brood area extending to 8 or 9 frames, any surplus honey is stored in the supers above the queen excluder.
The supers are medium depth (170mm) and are used exclusively for the storage of honey, supers are removed as soon as they are capped and are replaced by empty ones which in spring usually have a number of frames fitted with foundation to get the bees up into the supers, away from the brood area, and working on collecting honey.

Best regards
Norton

 

[Polyanwood]

Hello Frisbee
In relation to bcrazy's riddle....would you put a brood box on the ground? Wouldn't you put it on the supers or roof?

If I were the queen and Bcrazy was messing about in one of my bespoke brood boxes I would attmept to leave for my other residence. but oh no, what if I missed the entrance and ended up behind the portcullis under the OMF??

Are you going for double brood?

 

[Finman]

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There are many stores about need of brood area. One is enough but many move all brood frames and food frames above exluder and actually they have 2 brood boxes.

5 ful Langstroth frames is to really few. It must be over 10 frames.

Our professionals use 4 box size hives but they get honey half of mine yield.

They use average size hives because thay are quicker to nurse= 10 hives in 15 minutes. It is not nice to handle 30 kg box on the level of head.

 

[Norton]

5 full Langstroth frames is really to few. It must be over 10 frames.

As I said - do the maths. The total brood area is less than 5 full frames. They cannot fill more than that.
Best regards
Norton.