Managing brood nest or not....advive welcome!

[jeff33]

I guess we all worry about leaving our girls to their own devices when we go away!! I am going away for 2 weeks next weekend and I am not sure whether to re-shuffle my boxes before I go to avoid a nasty surprise on my return.

One of my brood nest is in the middle of the deep and super and I need to swap boxes to avoid congestion of the brood nest with a honey ceiling. The weather has not been great to do anything yet but I know that hive is already quite strong and are bringing in a bit of nectar and lots of pollen .

Do you think I should go ahead re-shuffle boxes and add a super next week before leaving or is it still too cold and they should stay put for another 2 weeks with an added super above or below? Thanks

 

[Ely]

What do you mean by reshuffle the boxes? How many frames of brood do they occupy, what hive format I.E, single deep and super, 14x12? Do you have a Beekeeper buddy that can keep an eye on them while you're away? It is best for a Beekeeper to work with the bees and their needs when appropriate for them rather than contrive it to the Beekeepers convenience.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I would put one under without a QX of course. You can always put it on top when you get home.

 

[jeff33]

What do you mean by reshuffle the boxes? How many frames of brood do they occupy.

I have a single deep and a super and after a quick look Tuesday (super only as I didn't want to completely open the hive) I saw brood on 5 frames and the others have store in it. the brood is low on the frames and I have brood in between the super frames and brood frames which makes me believe I also have several frames of brood in the deep but not sure if the other frames on the outside of the brood nest have store or are empty. Does that make sense?

I wanted to put the super below and the deep above with a QE and another super so if they bring in nectar it is stored above and not in brood nest space.

 

[Madge]

...I saw brood on 5 frames and the others have store in it. the brood is low on the frames and I have brood in between the super frames and brood frames which makes me believe I also have several frames of brood in the deep ...

No, I don't think you should swap them at this stage. As the brood is low on the frames in the super, you'll create a brood-break between the boxes. Anyway, it's still early in the season. You'll probably be OK to leave them as they are.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah I thought you meant to add an extra box

 

[jeff33]

Ah I thought you meant to add an extra box

Well that was the other option Erichalfbee, either swap the boxes or add a new super above or below the brood and a half so they can start drawing it if they need.

 

[Fatbee]

First question I would ask is why you're worried about leaving them? If it's for fear of swarming the next sort of questions are: do I really know how strong they? What is the forage situation currently around me? For example I know that I need to have some decent nectar sources out before there is a strong chance of swarming (OSR, dandelion, sycamore). Around me these are not there yet so I would have no concern about swarming for two weeks (plus from first cursory/minor inspection) I know they are behind where they were last year so swarming not an issue. However, your forage and your area will be different so you need to read your bees and locality.

As for swapping brood nests, I don't tend to do that level of micromanagement this early in season, but I run excluder less so bees design their own brood pattern - not to everybody's taste - but suits me but think that is more of a minority.

If you could give a bit more detail on strength and forage that would help and previous history. Did these bees attempt to swarm last year?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well....if you can't get a proper look in before you go and there is not much hope of much higher temperatures in the West for at least 10 days according to my forecast and you are seriously concerned that you might have a problem then as long as you are sure they have enough to eat for while you are away there is absolutely nothing wrong with putting another box underneath. Have you got a drawn one? That would be best. Then you can sort things out when you get back.

 

[jeff33]

First question I would ask is why you're worried about leaving them? If it's for fear of swarming? I know they are behind where they were last year so swarming not an issue. If you could give a bit more detail on strength and forage that would help and previous history. Did these bees attempt to swarm last year?

My problem is that I have no past history to compare against as I had my 1st nuc last May and they did swarm...probably through poor management of my part. The hive in question is the daughter hive headed by last year's queen raised from a swarm cell. Looking back they probably swarmed due to congestion in the brood chamber so I am concerned about that. The super is currently full of bees, not sure about the deep tho.

In terms of nectar flow it is pretty slow in South Wales also. Lots of pollen but not much else although I did notice some fresh nectar over the brood nest on the supers but not a huge amount.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I'm on Heat Island and do not plan to have inspected by the time you get back.


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[jeff33]

I'm on Heat Island and do not plan to have inspected by the time you get back.

I will leave them be then!

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I will leave them be then!

You might be ahead of me given our locations but most seem to be having a latish spring. Good luck.


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