Planning a new strategy next year…

[Beth]

Mine also absolutely glue everything together. I've tried reversing the brood super 90 degrees on a few hives to see if that helps stop frame to frame bridging.

Earlier in the year I had to split some broods and a halves. I found that by using an old metal queen excluder and slowly sliding it in through each corner, it was enough to sever most of the bridges and I could lift the box off. Hopefully moving slow enough to not kill bees.

 

[Christine Hamilton]

I only bother to condense down from double to single if colony is weaker than I would like. Take most through winter on double BB. Don't have to worry about stores. It is easy enough to condense down if you want, just remove empty or redundant frames. My roofs are insulated, wooden boxes. Not seen isolation starvation yet.

What’s the best way to store the empty frames to prevent wax moth and mould growing on them?

 

[Christine Hamilton]

What puts me off about double brood is the weight.

They’re a nightmare to lift off when inspecting. Supers are bad enough!

I use brood and a half with the super on top so it’s not heavy to move and leave the full brood unmoved at the bottom. This configuration gives them the extra room they need for a good sized brood nest.

 

[drex]

To store brood frames I burn sulphur or use Dipel. Brood and half is clumsy with different size frames. Double BB more versatile but each to his own

 

[Erichalfbee]

I use brood and a half with the super on top so it’s not heavy to move and leave the full brood unmoved at the bottom. This configuration gives them the extra room they need for a good sized brood nest.

Double brood is much easier when you need to split as all brood frames are the same size.

 

[user 819]

What puts me off about double brood is the weight.

They’re a nightmare to lift off when inspecting. Supers are bad enough!

Broods are ony heavy I find if full of honey which during the main season isn't so, if supered up. I use a hive stand to the height of the first BB and if need to move the top one over just simply do a side ways lift & shift.

A bb of brood only I find is still lighter then a super of honey, the broods are only heavy I find if used as super or are back filled with honey as in a Demeree.
With a Demeree once the BB has fulfilled it's job and is starting to be back filled , I rearrange it so that it sits lower on the hive and a bit easier to manipulate.

My double brood garden colony had a fantastic year this with the two year old Q, over 230lbs of honey harvested and now running as a two queen colony as they have s/s the queen but have also retained her as well. Both appear to be laying as recently have seen the brood area increase two fold. 29th July the new Q emerged and last week when checking overall stores both were present in the same bb.

 

[user 819]

Early part of the season brood tends to be in the top box though one may find part of the sphere progresses in to the bottom box , if she lays up the top box and I see few signs of any laying in the bottom then I may reverse the bb's. I do so esp if a good early flow appears to be on the cards is on as it encourages more brood/bees and a stronger foraging force.
It depends on your aims and needs, if you want good poundages from a strong flow then more bees and supers means more honey. If forage is very good over 100lbs is quite easy to attain and one can even with very good colonies that don't swarm manage over 200lbs, one has to be proactive with management to prevent clogging and back filling.
The management of two boxes can help in swarm control but should they still decide to superscede then one still has a strong colony if split.

 

[user 819]

As I found out this year doube brood also has advantages with viruses and in this case CBPV.
My single brood colony failed as too many bees died off and weakened the colony they struggled to help keep the brood warm and the raising of it, meanwhile double brood with 17 frames of brood had bees in numbers to see out the die off and aid the brood rearing, though the brood did reduce to 9 frames and half the bees were lost they soon recovered to regain strength, they missed much of the main earlier flow and laid in to the stores above to servive.

 

[Skinfaxi]

I run double 14x 12. They are good early in the season growth. If the weather is bad and cant check them it helps.Also i find the queen lays in the top box and the bees store lots of pollin nectar in the bottom box. A 14x12 box full of honey will push your body to its limits. It must weigh 50kg about. In the winter lots of the bottom frames get damp and mouldy. The wasps can rob the bottom box a bit. Also double brood increases your costs. But if you want big collonies and lots of honey then this can help. Fit your boxes around your bees needs dont expect the bees to fit your box. They fly away.
If i started again i would just use nationals for brood and supers

 

[user 819]

I use brood and a half with the super on top so it’s not heavy to move and leave the full brood unmoved at the bottom. This configuration gives them the extra room they need for a good sized brood nest.

Brood and half though is I found twice the work of double brood, the latter easier to manipulate the brood area/nest and much better for splits or a Demeree.
Brood in supers means treating the supers and broods to keep wax moth at bay so again double the wrok unless you keep all brood supers stored seperatley.

 

[user 819]

What’s the best way to store the empty frames to prevent wax moth and mould growing on them?

My method is to manually check for moth within a week of removal from the colony , I clean/sterilise the super/bb combs & boxes. Any moth larvae I see is eked out with tweezers then they get a spray of Dipel or toboxus, left a few hours to dry then stored in the bee shed , each box will have a seperater board to inhibit moth movement between boxes. I use green house glass edges with gaffer tape as seperater boards as the weight is better and one doesn't get warping , also easier to wash clean off any leak nectar /honey and pollen dust.
I don't rest on my laurels and will find an hour a few weeks later to go through the stack again to check on any moth damage, occasionally I will find a larvae or coccoon and remove with the tweezers and reapply the Ddipel after that I find it sorts out any furthe rissues.

Of course if one has the space to have a few large freezers one can freeze boxes for a few days but most don't have that luxury or space.

 

[Redcap]

I run double 14x 12. They are good early in the season growth. If the weather is bad and cant check them it helps.Also i find the queen lays in the top box and the bees store lots of pollin nectar in the bottom box. A 14x12 box full of honey will push your body to its limits. It must weigh 50kg about. In the winter lots of the bottom frames get damp and mouldy. The wasps can rob the bottom box a bit. Also double brood increases your costs. But if you want big collonies and lots of honey then this can help. Fit your boxes around your bees needs dont expect the bees to fit your box. They fly away.
If i started again i would just use nationals for brood and supers

Double 14x12 sounds huge...do you keep them as doubles all year, or reduce to single come the autumn...? I like the idea of reverting back to nationals, possibly doubles...but in order to do that I've got to be strict with myself and stop using the 14x12s !

 

[ericbeaumont]

inspecting double broods weekly in the season? ... taking that top box off destroyed so much brood ... frames were aligned and bee space was right but the bees would always bridge the gap with brood.

That indicates that at some point the nest became congested and that double brood was not enough. I triple brood routinely if the colony is heading in that direction.

intending to go double brood

Having read the variety of ideas, what's your verdict?

 

[Skinfaxi]

Double 14x12 sounds huge...do you keep them as doubles all year, or reduce to single come the autumn...? I like the idea of reverting back to nationals, possibly doubles...but in order to do that I've got to be strict with myself and stop using the 14x12s !

They are doubles and full of bees.
I am also still on my path of experience. I find some colonies only need one brood box. It has pros and cons like in the winter bottom box gets a bit wet and mouldy. But spring time it buys me some time if the weather is really bad. They still want to swarm but a bit later than in small boxes. Then i just check under the frames of the top brood box and that queen is laying at inspections.
But like said get to know your bees and what they need. Some peaple have less prolific bees and have less equipment. But that said if you want a decent amount of honey then you need big colonies. Depends on your needs

 

[user 819]

What’s the best way to store the empty frames to prevent wax moth and mould growing on them?

Mould is usually only an issue with damp, if storing frames with pollen then use a separater board as pollen mites will turn the pollen to dust and carpet the boxes below, one reason I use taped glass boards to easy wash debris off.

 

[Christine Hamilton]

Brood and half though is I found twice the work of double brood, the latter easier to manipulate the brood area/nest and much better for splits or a Demeree.
Brood in supers means treating the supers and broods to keep wax moth at bay so again double the wrok unless you keep all brood supers stored seperatley.

The brood supers stay in the colony for three years and then get replaced. They are never in storage and never mixed up with the honey supers.

 

[BeeBird]

To store brood frames I burn sulphur or use Dipel. Brood and half is clumsy with different size frames. Double BB more versatile but each to his own

I’m planning to purchase some Dipel to protect my stored shallow frames. Just wanted to be sure that I’m purchasing the correct product. Does this look like the type others are using?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes

 

[BeeBird]

Great, thanks for your prompt reply.

 

[Curly green finger's]

How does everybody cope with inspecting double broods weekly in the season? Bottom box first but taking that top box off destroyed so much brood when I tried it so gave up. All the frames were aligned and bee space was right but the bees would always bridge the gap with brood.

Put a qx in and rotate frames ,keep the queen in the bottom brood box supers on top