Todays inspection

[oliver90owner]

steveselvage,

Busy Bee wrote:Certainly this would make double brood causing more problems later on no doubt.

Definitely with Finman here! Problems? The soonest is likely swarming. Now, it may depend on whether you want some OSR honey or if you wish to concentrate on early increase to retrieve your 4 colony position.

To be honest, I would still double-brood them - so much easier to increase after the OSR flow and also get a large crop with less risk of early swarming.

I never restrict queen laying space these days. Have learned from my early days! Two boxes are better than only half the bees! Even if I need two boxes on my 14 x 12s for a while. I do not worry whether it is a super over the brood box or another brood - depends on expansion rate, etc, etc. - but I always want some space for her to lay. 'Restricting' to one box is tantamount to reducing colony size, and honey crop (as long as they are not going to miss the flow). It is so easy to reduce back to one box as her lay rate decreases - just pop in the Q/E and wait, or, in your case, artficial swarm, if you have not needed to split them earlier.

Regards, RAB

 

[Finman]

.
There are many ways to use excluder. One is that use it since you put super.

Another way is to put it on when yield season is turning to end and you want apart brood and honey before extraction.

Third style is to keep excluder over 3 brood box and then for swarm preventing you lift all food and brood frames over the excluder and give an empty box to be layed.

I do not use excluder because it makes me troubles. I have tried them.
My main yield comes into hives like a storm and I do not want block the nectar flow. I must admit that hives are slow to nurse. But they forage well. I have good pastures and no other beekeepers.

However, all professionals in Finland use excluder. So I suppose.

 

[oliver90owner]

However, all professionals in Finland use excluder. So I suppose.

Finman,

Not all. Maybe all but one?

I use them less and less, here in the UK. They are simply a 'means to an end', as they say, and I use them just for that.

OSR is our problem crop and I prefer to try to remove the crop without having to wait three weeks after the flow has diminished! Otherwise I am likely to be feeding back crystallised honey later in the season.

I bought ten wire excluders to replace the slotted ones I had and have not yet used half of them. The queen tends to stay downstairs in my Dartingtons until she has either run out of space or has more than 13/14 frames in the brood. Early on I would prefer she lays upstairs, rather than wait for comb to be drawn in the brood frames.

Regards, RAB