Double brood to prevent swarming

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Thanks Yeogi.

 

[Finman]

How do the queens lay anywhere they want and you get huge returns of honey? Do you start with queen laying in a box and add boxes under her as the colony grows?

I counted yesterday that this summer the average yield is about 100 kg/ hive.

Best hive got 180 kg even if it tried to swarm. I made AS and it drew 3 boxes foundations and continued foraging 6-7 kg/day.

At the end of May I did six 3-frame nucs. I kicked them up by the help of bigger hives brood frames. Yesterday I cleared them for winter feeding. The result is 70-80 kg/ hive.

Thanks to last week honey dew flow. No flowers but emoty hives got 20-30 kg honey during one week. And over 10 frames brood.

Most of beekeepers lost late honey dew yield because they hade feeded the hives.

Now I am in a hurry to feed them for winter. One week time to do that and take the hives from woods.

I have rotten beekeeping experience, but the result speaks cross cultural language.

My leg is still swollen , but dogs of village will not piss onto it.

 

[oliver90owner]

Finman, you are back!

Or did you never really leave?

Mind the wolves. (Probably too deep for most)

 

[Finman]

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Swarming is easily controlled with AS and with clipped queen wing.
It is easier than check the hive every week during swarming period.

Excluder is not a magic tool. It does not bring any honey.
When it is a good flow, everything is one mesh: pollen, brood, honey, nectar...it is nice to look that mesh...from bottom to top...

It is important that nectar is in the hive and not in frowers when evening comes. Late summer gives time to put everything in order.
Order means that I leave no honey into hives. They get sugar from Lidl. But pollen is essential in wintering. Now hives have several frames of pollen and they need them before clustering.

 

[Finman]

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Weathers have been splended here. It means that hives are exceptionally full of brood.
I move brood frames downstairs and put a box over frood. I load pollen frames and empty frames into the upper box and hive is ready for feeding. Then I bring hives from woods to home yard and start sugar feeding with 8-litre boxes.

Into sides I put white new combs that theye is nothing which may take mold.

It is little bit hurry but it is every summer.

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[Finman]

Finman, you are back!

No I am not. I just want to tell, what means "rotten experience".

You have there stainless steel like beekeeping habits there. Hang on those!!!
They will stand for centuries and have been native since Ice Ace.


I am really tired on that spamming gang.

Mind the wolves..... I love that 2000 km distance between us. Carry on howling.
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[SteeveeTee]

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I load pollen frames and empty frames into the upper box and hive is ready for feeding.

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Sorry, what are the pollen frames, does this mean you spin out the honey, which leaves pollen behind (can't imagine this), or is there a way of getting the bees to put all their pollen in one place (can't imagine this either) or do you fill drawn frames with an artificial pollen?

 

[Finman]

Sorryor is there a way of getting the bees to put all their pollen in one place (can't imagine this either) ?

In main flow I use 3 langstroth brood boxes. And no excluder.

The queen lays in those 3 boxes. It has no need to go up to supers and bees have no need to store pollen in supers.

When I take away entrance reducer, the lowest box becomes cold and the queen will lay in second and in third box.

In main yield in July bees collect a huge amount of pollen and they store it next to brood area. The first box is quite full of pollen, several frames mere packed pollen. Then in next boxes bees store pollen to the sidemost frames.

Bees do not like to store pollen in white combs. They need to be more or less brown.

In August blooming vanishes, but it is time to rear winterbees. Italian bees consume those pollen stores before September and stores turn to bees. Carniolan bees tend to save much pollen stores. That is why they have early build up.

Now, when hive has lots of brood, emerged bees will need pollen in late September. Otherwise they will not be good winterers.

In the middle of August I take honey away and I force the queen into first brood box. I put entrance reducer on, that the lowest box is warm.

These all will happen even if we have rainy weathers. If I have red clover in bloom, it helps to rear 2 box wintering hives.

One pollen frame is needed to rear one brood frame.
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[Finman]

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But I must say clearly, douple brood does not prevent swarming. It is only meant to rear lots of foragers for main yield.
It takes 6 weeks that eggs will be foragers bees.

Eggs layed in the middle of May will be foragers in July. How much brood -so much forager later.

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[Margaret Elisabeth]

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But I must say clearly, douple brood does not prevent swarming. It is only meant to rear lots of foragers for main yield.
It takes 6 weeks that eggs will be foragers bees.

Eggs layed in the middle of May will be foragers in July. How much brood -so much forager later.

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Thanks for all that information Finman. So much to learn so little time. Three brood boxes? I dont think I could cope.
I think I should read it all through again when I am less tired.
Hope the leg is improving. Take care.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Thanks, Finman. Always good to read your posts.

 

[SteeveeTee]

Thanks for this wealth of info.

It seems to make sense, so though...

Is the climate in Finland during the spring summer and autumn similar enough to the UK to make such an approach work, my limited knowledge is picking up gradually and I had got the vibe that double brood would be unnecessary, but I can't think of a good reason why apart from perhaps the bees make swarm prevention a little harder as they struggle to pass round queen substance???