Double Brood?

[Ozzi]

I expanded this year from 1 to 8 hives but have now condensed them down to 5 stronger hives.
I spent a fortune last year so am looking to consolidate in 2015 and rather than expanding too much I was thinking of making all my hives double brood or brood and half next year.

My fist question is do experienced beekeepers prefer brood and half or double brood colony's.

My second question is when checking the hives do you need to check the bottom brood box. I am not obsessed with finding the queen if there is evidence she is laying. If the top box be free from swarm cells would the bottom box most likely be clear of queen cells?

Cheers

 

[Tom Bick]

Double brood for me and only go into the bottom brood box if I think something is wrong or early evidence of swarm preparations are seen in the top brood box. I have started on some occasions to only split the two brood boxes and check the bottom of the frames in the top box for queen cells and if non seen join the two boxes back together and inspection over.

 

[Swarm]

 

[enrico]

A mixture of all three, single, double and brood and a half depending if they need it, rarely check the bottom box but always make sure you keep perfect frames in the bottom cos if there is one with a hole in it then odds on they will hang a queen cell there!
E

 

[itma]

I expanded this year from 1 to 8 hives but have now condensed them down to 5 stronger hives.
I spent a fortune last year so am looking to consolidate in 2015 and rather than expanding too much I was thinking of making all my hives double brood or brood and half next year.

My fist question is do experienced beekeepers prefer brood and half or double brood colony's.
…

I actually like 14x12. Its a national, just deeper, so you get brood-and-a-half brood area, but all on ONE frame not two, and you only have the one brood box to deal with. Sure, stores frames get heavyish, and you want to ask for a hand when moving a whole hive (not a bad idea anyway!)
Its not hard to transition to 14x12. The brood box can be converted with a simple eke, but you are looking at new brood frames and drawing new foundation.

Brood an a half is an awkward arrangement. Compounded by the fact that most haven't got proper brood-frame spacing (or hoffman spacers) in the 'half'.
Double brood, giving the flexibility of moving frames between boxes, is greatly preferable - however it can lead to intimidatingly large colonies! And you have a heavy box to shift every time you want/need to look into the bottom box. When the top box fills with stores (so the brood is in the bottom box) it is a very heavy lift …

Time-poor beefarmers with lots of hives will 'play the odds' and just do a 'tipping' inspection for QCs between the boxes. They may miss some, but hopefully not a large proportion.

Artificial swarms could get 'interesting' with double brood, but the usual practice seems to be to do a split, reconfiguring the colony to achieve the desired effect.

With 8 single-brood hives today, you are in a position to combine down to 4 double-brood colonies (and have some spare roofs and floors!)

 

[REDWOOD]

+1 14x12
Adding a shallow/super is not giving the Q more space if there is a QE in between. Adding a shallow/super for brood then you loose a shallow/super for honey so you end up buying more equipment. Adding another deep or 14x12 BB will give you the option to split or raise a few queens but that depends what you want out of beekeeping

 

[kazmcc]

I actually like 14x12. Its a national, just deeper, so you get brood-and-a-half brood area, but all on ONE frame not two, and you only have the one brood box to deal with. Sure, stores frames get heavyish, and you want to ask for a hand when moving a whole hive (not a bad idea anyway!)
Its not hard to transition to 14x12. The brood box can be converted with a simple eke, but you are looking at new brood frames and drawing new foundation.

Brood an a half is an awkward arrangement. Compounded by the fact that most haven't got proper brood-frame spacing (or hoffman spacers) in the 'half'.
Double brood, giving the flexibility of moving frames between boxes, is greatly preferable - however it can lead to intimidatingly large colonies! And you have a heavy box to shift every time you want/need to look into the bottom box. When the top box fills with stores (so the brood is in the bottom box) it is a very heavy lift …

Time-poor beefarmers with lots of hives will 'play the odds' and just do a 'tipping' inspection for QCs between the boxes. They may miss some, but hopefully not a large proportion.

Artificial swarms could get 'interesting' with double brood, but the usual practice seems to be to do a split, reconfiguring the colony to achieve the desired effect.

With 8 single-brood hives today, you are in a position to combine down to 4 double-brood colonies (and have some spare roofs and floors!)

I agree. I hated brood and a half. When I start again I'm converting to 14x12. I have just had the experience of feeling the weight of a 14x12 frame full of stores, and yes it is heavy, and I would need help when moving the brood box, but then we are a group so that's no big deal.

 

[REDWOOD]

We beekeepers are a friendly lot and never a problem if anyone needs help

 

[Grif]

Ta! That's useful advice - just checking the top brood. I have double broods and have been looking through all boxes during inspections & it takes me ages.

For those that use this method, how many times during a season would you look at the bottom box?

 

[Swarm]

When you see signs of swarm behaviour.

Edit : Another option would be a Demarree and frame rotation.

 

[BeeJayBee]

When I start again I'm converting to 14x12. I have just had the experience of feeling the weight of a 14x12 frame full of stores, and yes it is heavy, and I would need help when moving the brood box, but then we are a group so that's no big deal.

If you need to move a big brood box take out any frames of stores, put them in a nuc or something temporarily. It makes the large box much lighter, and easier to move.

 

[kazmcc]

If you need to move a big brood box take out any frames of stores, put them in a nuc or something temporarily. It makes the large box much lighter, and easier to move.

D'oh! Of course! Keep it simple, not my strong point lol. Thank you.

 

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Ozzie.
Have a look online about a Snelgrove board.
You can save a lot on roofs floors and crown boards that way