Utilising a larger brood area next season

[bignikki]

If you run brood and a half then instead of having to check through all the frames, as you do with brood only,you simply split the two boxes and look under the top box . The theory being that if they are making QC's they will be on the bottom of the frames. So it is actually less work!

 

[Bosleeu]

If you run brood and a half then instead of having to check through all the frames, as you do with brood only,you simply split the two boxes and look under the top box . The theory being that if they are making QC's they will be on the bottom of the frames. So it is actually less work!

A good way to save some time, but don't always bank on it. The girls are good at hiding those swarm cells.

 

[Little John]

What is a 'dual' long hive btw? Does it have two long rows of frames side by side (parallel) in the box or two long hives joined in series, as a really extra long hive?

Well, for me 'a couple' means just a few. Dictionary has one meaning as "an indefinite small number" - that's how I often use the word.

The Dual Deep Long Hive ? The latter. I've posted details pn:
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=448850

It's still pretty cr@p as a hive - far too long and cumbersome, but just more useful than what it was before - for the sake of a few hours work.
I'll be running it without supers - as it's just going to function as a 'bee factory' to support nuc production.

LJ

 

[Jed D]

Just like the first reply said so many options and so many opinions.

So to add to it !!!!
All our colonies will start with a single national brood box next year. and if and when queenie lays more than 8/9 frames, she'll get another national brood box.

This for me at least ,makes for simple swarm control / splits and at the end of the year we can reduce down to single brood box ,removing old comb as we go.

I did toy with getting some 14 x 12 for this coming season' but when I considered the expense and the fact that all our gear is interchangeable , it seemed easier to buy some more nationals.

As I look back at last season's notes, you can see that some colonies want more space than others. All our colonies stem from local caught swarms and have hopefully crossbred with someone else's really expensive queens male of spring:

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

"A couple" is two. "Several" is more than two but less than many. "A few" is the lower end of several. So; none, one, one or two, a couple, a few, several, many.

 

[itma]

If you run brood and a half then instead of having to check through all the frames, as you do with brood only,you simply split the two boxes and look under the top box . The theory being that if they are making QC's they will often but not always be on the bottom of the frames. So it is actually less work!

Fixed that for you.

"Tipping" inspections are fine if you are in a position to "play the odds" and your apiary site is such that losing a few swarms isn't going to upset the neighbours.
However, it does need to be recognised that far from all beekeepers are in such a position.

 

[domino]

I'd personally avoid brood and a half because it makes an awful mess. Inspections also become bothersome.

If you opt for a large brood area migrate them into a larger box.

That said I currently have a hive over wintering on 12x14 and half after it exploded.

 

[madasafish]

If you are serious, jumbo Langs are the biggest. And in poly, they are light.. I can lift a full one without breaking anything despite being an OAP...Space for around 75,000 bees..

 

[Little John]

"A couple" is two. "Several" is more than two but less than many. "A few" is the lower end of several. So; none, one, one or two, a couple, a few, several, many.

"Is" ? Words are not like that. Meanings always come first, words follow. However, a problem occurs in the ongoing evolution of a language as there are never enough words available to describe the number of meanings which can arise. Which is why there may be multiple 'definitions' of a word within dictionaries. (Incidently, the field within a dictionary page which is called the 'definition' of a word actually contains descriptions of how a word has been used, and is currently being used.) Dictionaries (with one of two exceptions - legal and so forth) never 'define' words, but instead follow in the wake of their current useage(sic), by describing those useages(sic).

The origins of the word 'couple' had nothing whatsoever to do with two - it was the Latin word copula meaning 'to tie' or 'to connect'. We still use the word in this sense of course, when talking about the 'coupling' of railway carriages. It was a word used to describe an action rather than a quantity.
It was not until the late 13th century that the French word cople evolved from it to specifically describe a 'married couple or lovers'. The meaning was later broadened in the 14th century to describe 'any two things'.

Sure, these days many people use the word 'couple' in the 13th/14th century sense of 'two', or 'a pair', but the meaning of the word is not static (it never has been) and these days it is often used to mean a few, or an undefined small number - as in: "knock a couple (i.e. a few) more nails in", or "it cost more than a couple of quid", for example.

The meaning of words continues to change (along with their spellings), and thus 'IS-ness' therefore cannot ever apply. Which irritates pedants no end, as they continually seek to live within a static, unchanging world which provides them with that same illusion of safety, stability and security to be found within any child's comfort blanket.

LJ

 

[madasafish]

The meaning of words continues to change (along with their spellings), and thus 'IS-ness' therefore cannot ever apply. Which irritates pedants no end, as they continually seek to live within a static, unchanging world which provides them with that same illusion of safety, stability and security to be found within any child's comfort blanket.

LJ

Pedants? There are laws against that kind of behaviour.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Like Jed I prefer to stick with std national BB's.

I Generally start them on a single in Spring, then when the time is right I demaree to try and prevent swarming (repeating a few times where necessary) ending up on a double brood in Autumn and leaving them with a BB full of winter stores which gets removed when empty on the 1st inspection the following Spring.

Everyone has their preferred method and box size and it's finding the solution that works best for yourself.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Well we're a couple of fools.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Like Jed I prefer to stick with std national BB's.



I Generally start them on a single in Spring, then when the time is right I demaree to try and prevent swarming (repeating a few times where necessary) ending up on a double brood in Autumn and leaving them with a BB full of winter stores which gets removed when empty on the 1st inspection the following Spring.



Everyone has their preferred method and box size and it's finding the solution that works best for yourself.

I happened into that method immediately. Glad it has such a provenance. I bet there's more than just a couple of us doing it, too. I aspire to your towers...