I know a fella that likes to put his boxes under the existing boxes....I have a hive that needs one added now. What's the benefit to this? Just the fact that bees naturally build from top to bottom?
> I know a fella that likes to put his boxes under the existing boxes....I have a hive that needs one added now. What's the
benefit to this? Just the fact that bees naturally build from top to bottom?
I assume you have one brood box as of now? In that case, I would add the new brood box to the top. If the existing
box is loaded and no room, I would highly recommend checkerboarding your frames as follows, (Five full frames in the
top and five in the bottom), as follows; full, empty, full empty etc. per box. Make sure you do not already have capped
queen cells.
Phillip
Phillip
Checkerboarding is done in the honey supers above the brood to provide space for the bees to fill.
Jim Altmiller
I learned this from the Fat Bee Man and Tim Durham. If you use foundation the queen will lay in the new cells even before they are completely finished being made to full height.
Both you fellas are correct. The original term CHECKERBOARDING was applied as Jim stated. Purpose to increase honey yield and prevent swarming and broodcomb was untouched as in original term.
However Man and Tim use the exact word CHECKERBOARDING to increase brood yields and prevent swarming. Would have been less confusing if the word ALTERNATE brood comb was used. However the term CHECKERBOARDING was used for brood.
So, one term, two different meaning. Us old timers think of the original term checkerboard as arranging honey combs only as Jim pointed out. FatBeeMan and Durham have a large audience from YouTube videos so the term is out there, two meaning.
Thank you once again Mr Van. I am still learning. (And boy am I! It is seems the more I learn let less I know! lol). I appreciate your and Jims guidance.
Phillip Hall
Best to keep brood frames together. I am meaning frames that have active brood (eggs/larvae) on them. Do whatever else pleases with inactive brood frames.
You can add a box and move the brood frames, dividing them to the two boxes. But keep brood frames next to one another and above/below one another. Add the new frames next to and outside of the brood frames. Maintain the integrity of the core of the nest, centred between the two boxes. Add new frames outside of and around that core nest.
Never checkerboard the core of the active brood nest.
Checkerboard supers only, honey frames in third box and added supers above to create work for the bees to promote drawing out new frames.
Imho. Do what you will.
I'm sure you have a very good reason for your opinion of this. I can understand cooler climates will be taking a chance by doing this and if I were in a cooler region I woluld not even consider this. From what I understand, the nurse bees will nurse the brood frames even when checkerboarded (spaced out). The queen will find open cells to lay even when spaced out, and the bees will Quickly, fill in the open frames in between with new comb. I am eager to learn and as you know, I place a high value on your opinion Mr HP. Will you please give me your experienced reasons for not doing this as it will be Greatly appreciated.
Phillip Hall
Are we talking 10 frame full depth? If so why do you need another box?
A queen laying 2000 eggs a day can only fill 6-7 frames with brood. If the bees want room then they will shift honey up to the super, even through a QX.
Good frame of brood
Oldbeavo, I am glad you posted this as a reminder. I have been intending to look into this further. A single brood chamber has been discussed here before but I have not looked into it in a serious way. Can you tell us more about your experiences with this set up? By the way, that is a nice looking frame of capped brood.
Thanks,
Phillip Hall
My experience; A good queen will easily demand a two deeps brood nest during early season build up period. Exceptional queens will demand three deeps during that time. (Aka: spring-swarm season). Some may call these queens swarmy. They are not. They are high performing, and require a different, expanded management approach. Once over the hump, She will be happy with one brood box for the rest of the year.
A mediocre, substandard queen, or old queen, will be happy in a single deep brood box year round.
Local climate and conditions of course vary greatly. Your experience will be different per where you are.
.
To Ben?s question;
When adding a box to a new hive that is expanding brood nest what I do is 3 over 4 centre. 10 frame deeps. Described as ....
Bottom box:
4 active brood frames centred. Foundation in positions 2 and 9. All other frames are empty drawn comb or pollen. All pollen in bottom box. No honey.
2nd box. 2 to 3 active brood frames centred. Honey at 1 and 2 and 10. Foundation at 3 and 8. All other frames empty.
If on a flow and there is more honey than described, that goes into the 3rd and above.
If there is more than 6 to 7 frames of brood in two boxes - she is going to bee too big too fast. Add more supers to give plenty of space (within SHB limits) or Split ... else you will soon be chasing bees in the trees and eaves.
.... there is one method. Each beekeeper will have similar or different preferences. Do what you like.
@ TheHoneyPump
Thank you for the detailed answer. Very appreciated.
Phillip
Quote from: Fishing-Nut on April 08, 2020, 09:02:15 AM
I have a hive that needs one added now. What's the benefit to this? Just the fact that bees naturally build from top to bottom?
Yes to the second question. You did say need... A hive needs more frames not necessarily a whole box. It is easier to monitor progress when the box is on top. If you are confident is what you are doing you can put the box on the bottom. If you put boxes under the brood nest eventually honey will be stored in brood frames. Some don't like to do that. I like to do it the first year because it makes the comb stronger. After one season I try to keep honey frames out of the brood nest.
HoneyPump.
<Best to keep brood frames together. I am meaning frames that have active brood (eggs/larvae) on them. Do whatever else pleases with inactive brood frames.>
Are you saying "active brood" frames have open egg and brood, and need to stay in the core of the brood nest, while
"Inactive brood" frames are sealed brood, and these can be separated from the brood nest?
I ask because I have been slowly seeding foundationless frames at the edge of the broodnest where the comb is straight. But I am making sure that the frame i am separating is sealed brood.
QuoteI know a fella that likes to put his boxes under the existing boxes..
To your OQ: This was my preference. If you open up a hive in a wall or whatever, the bees build down in spring/summer and store honey above. Following the natural pattern of hive building, it makes sense to add space under for them to continue building. They will use the higher spaces for honey, so you add honey boxes on top.
It is more convenient to put the new brood box on top of the old one and usually that works fine too. Moving a frame or two of brood into the new box is often done to get the bees to move if they are reluctant to do so. If the flow is good and the queen is good, it may not be an issue. I think leaving the brood alone is better.
The number of boxes or honey supers depends on your queen and your area. For that advice, you have to evaluate your own hive and perhaps get some local advice on honey flow.
Bottom line is that whatever you do, the bees will figure it out most of the time. :wink:
Hi Bob
So all frames in a brood box may be called brood frames. A guy pulls a dark coloured frame out of the boxes and calls it a brood frame. Wrt the core of the nest post I was/am trying to differentiate between them by using the term active.
Active brood frame means it contains: palm size and/or larger patch of eggs or larvae or capped. An active frame is rearing newbees
The rest of the brood box frames may contain pollen, honey, foundation, be at various stages of being worked over by the bees.
The advice is keep the active frames together centred in the box. Add empty drawn combs on both sides. Put foundation outside of those empty drawn combs. By the time she activates most of the empty combs space, the bees will have been able to draw the foundation and have prepped for her.
- Three frames free -: means at any and all points in time after an inspection and before closing up the hive the criteria to be met is a perimeter of three empty drawn combs around the active brood nest for the queen to go to and the nurse bees to work on. There will be one empty on either side of the core of the nest and one up or down. For the resources; Move honey up. Move pollen down.
Hope that helps.
Another thing crossed my mind.
Check that your bees have not already put honey over your brood in your existing brood chamber. If they have, the queen will be less likely to move up. This would be a time where I would take a couple of frames of brood with honey and move it up, keeping the frames together, so that both the bees and the queen will go up. Put the empty frames under the brood you just moved.
Another good reason to put your new box under :cheesy:
>The advice is keep the active frames together centred in the box. Add empty drawn combs on both sides. Put foundation
outside of those empty drawn combs. Buy the time she activates most of the empty combs space, the bees will have
been able to draw the foundation and have prepped for her.
This is basically what I did a month Concerning empty frames in the bottom box and full frames on the top and posted what I did here, not knowing if this was correct or not. I even said as much. Glad to know I did the right thing. The reasoning was colder weather was a great possibility and I did not want chilled brood.This worked out fine. Now that it is pretty safe to say the weather is now up to speed, I still do not know what would be the disadvantage to checkerboarding. This time of year? Please do not take this as being uncooperative. I am trying to learn.
> Re: Working Hives in Spring
? on: March 09, 2020, 09:19:20 pm ?
I first thought of checkerboarding, however, being concerned of the possibility of an upcoming, unpredicted cold spell, I
went a different route. I pulled five of the empty frames from the middle of the now top box. (before I re-set on the now
bottom box). I replaced this empty space with 5 busting at the seams frames full of what we want. On the now bottom
box I scooted the five full frames in the exact position of the middle of that box, matching the top box frame for frame.
This left each box with five on top and five on the bottom evenly matched just as they would be in a two five frame nuc
set up.
This left each box with drawn empty frames on each side of the brood for insulation as well as expansion.
Phillip
Imho
To get the best out of our hives Our role as beekeepers is to facilitate and nurture. Not to create hurdles, barriers, and more work. That means working with the bees natural ways of doing things and making those things easier for them. Creating gaps in the nest does not help them. It disrupts them. It is also about division of labour and sending the work teams to different work sites. Wax workers over top of nurse bees over top a queen looking for a place to go creates chaos.
As a beekeeper our roles are to try to create paths of least resistance give better bigger results.
The brood nest is for raising bees, not making wax. Avoid putting foundation in the brood boxes. By putting only drawn frames in the brood nest and keeping the core integrity together you will be rewarded with well organized nests and much much faster buildouts.
The honey stores is the place for making wax, building and filling storage space. Storage is on the outside of the nest, edges of the box, or up in supers. Draw the foundation outside the nest core do any checkboard in the supers. Move freshly drawn frames down into the brood box near the nest when and where needed.
All that said. Use whatever method makes sense to you. Just remember we are not a bees and do not know better. The bees will fix whatever we do to realign with their natural ways. The bees spend a lot of time taking pause and fixing what we did to them before they are able get on with moving forward.
Let me add, in spite of this honest effort, I still had bees in the trees! Up till the present. 9 known swarms here at my home yard of 20. 8 recovered. 2 at my other yard of 15. Both recovered! I am not blaming the method for the swarms by my lack of closer attention to the hives. I have learned that I should have checked every week or so this time of year instead of relaxing and assuming all the added space was sufficient.
Phillip Hall
> The brood nest is for raising bees, not making wax. Avoid putting foundation in the brood boxes. By putting only drawn frames in the brood nest and keeping the core integrity together you will be rewarded with well organized nests and much much faster buildouts.
The honey stores is the place for making wax, building and filling storage space. Storage is on the outside of the nest, edges of the box, or up in supers. Draw the foundation outside the nest core do any checkboard in the supers. Move freshly drawn frames down into the brood box near the nest when and where needed.
Thank you for that explanation. I will not argue with a man of your experience and knowledge. And I do so appreciate you taking the time to educate even me. Gods Blessings.
PS if a picture says a thousand words, your picture standing by the stack of honey supers say it all!! A person can not help the bees make that much honey by accident! I liked that picture on your Name Plate. Very impressive.
Phillip Hall
Quote from: Ben Framed on April 09, 2020, 12:49:27 PM
I still do not know what would be the disadvantage to checkerboarding. This time of year?
Phillip
Details matter... If there are not enough bees to work the expanded space it could set back the hive. If you try to force the bees to expand when they are not capable you will find them in the trees and not necessarily where you can get them back. They may also die due to something they are battling, SHB, varroa.
You may have missed a piece of math in your expansion efforts, Ben. That is: 1 frame of capped brood yields 3 frames of walking/working bees in 1 week.
Eg: a 10 frame box with 5 frames of brood. What does that math say. ..... 15 frames of bees on order and shipped, and those are in ADDITION to the bees that are already in the box. Or two 10 frames boxes with 8+ frames of brood ..... 30 frames of more bees on order and shipped.
How many frames of bees are already in the box? Where are the 3xF added bees going to go when the brood emerges? ... To the trees and eaves of course.
Swarm management involves weekly inspection, counting and doing some math:
- The queen and nurse bees in the core nest need the 3 frames free described, per week.
- The field bees and house bees need an ..additional.. 3 to 4 frames of workspace for every frame of brood seen in the nest core. On a heavy nectar flow they need 5 to 8 frames of space per brood frame. Pending on your region and conditions. (Folks in SHB areas may caution to run them tighter).
- Stay ahead of them. Make the workspace adjustments and manipulations 2 to 3 weeks before they actually need it.
The beekeeper has choice of three actions to take with expanding colonies. Let them swarm. Add enough space to the hive at the right time. Or split them into whole separate space(s); more hives.
For a practical real world, example:
- A 10 frame hive in spring build-up mode
- Cluster size in early morning or late evening is 8 frames of bees in the box
- The nest core has 5 frames of brood all stages
The manipulation and addition to do in this case:
8 frames of bees + 3x5 frames of bees coming = 23 frames of beespace is needed by this hive to house the bees. This hive needs to be expanded into two boxes in less than one week or it will go into swarm mode. 23 frames do not fit into 2 boxes. However, a foundation frame creates a lot of work and can be counted as 2 frames.
The action to take with this hive is to add a box and at least 3 of the frames would be foundation. The hive will be 2 boxes high when done. If the weather is warm a heavy flow is on, I would not bat an eye at giving this hive 3 boxes to work with. (Folks in SHB areas may disagree with this 3rd of storage space.) - it depends -
Remember what is done to the hive today isn't about the hive today, it is about the hive next week. This hive would be reconfigured as follows. May be some variation based on what resources (H/P/B) are in the hive at the time:
.... 2nd box: HFEEBBEHFH
.... Bottom box: PPEBBBEPFP
optional, warm and heavy flow only
.... 3rd box, above queen excluder:
HFEFEFEFHH
With that setup, check again in a week. The beekeeper should not have to do anything more for 2 weeks, but to continue to check weekly to see they are comfortable in the space, healthy, and continue on an upwards projected path. At the 3rd week, split the hive or add more space for housing more bees and storing the mass of honey about to come in as the foragers mature and hit the flowers.
With experience you learn to assess and act on these on the fly without getting out a calculator or having to do much head scratching. Though if ever unsure of what to do, then take a moment to count multiply and add to figure out what the bees are telling you they need you to do today so they can continue to be happy next week.
And with that, ad nauseam, I shall stop and exit stage left.. Have a great weekend everyone!
Thanks, I learned this by not doing the math bt by the school of hard knocks! Lol yes Every week foward next spring. I suppose I could have made splits but the weather was a little iffie as cool was still in the air. We live and learn. :happy:
Phillip
@ Mr Hp
The conversation leads me to other thoughts . Perhaps it is time for me to look more seriously into Michale Palmers methods of a Sustainable Apiary. I will need a lot of queens to make the proper splits next season at the precise time to accommodate all the splits and keep them moving forward. I had better check out that video once again. Thank you Mr Hp
Phillip Hall
Our role as beekeepers is to facilitate and nurture. Not to create hurdles, barriers, and more work. That means working with the bees natural ways of doing things and making those things easier for them.
Remember what is done to the hive today isn't about the hive today, it is about the hive next week
Very through answers HP, I will have to reread a hundred times over to comprehend all that's been said here, but that's good. Thanks for turning my thinking in this direction.
Great info in this thread.
Quote from: van from Arkansas on April 08, 2020, 12:01:45 PM
Both you fellas are correct. The original term CHECKERBOARDING was applied as Jim stated. Purpose to increase honey yield and prevent swarming and broodcomb was untouched as in original term.
However Man and Tim use the exact word CHECKERBOARDING to increase brood yields and prevent swarming. Would have been less confusing if the word ALTERNATE brood comb was used. However the term CHECKERBOARDING was used for brood.
So, one term, two different meaning. Us old timers think of the original term checkerboard as arranging honey combs only as Jim pointed out. FatBeeMan and Durham have a large audience from YouTube videos so the term is out there, two meaning.
Quote from: Ben Framed on April 08, 2020, 12:12:52 PM
Thank you once again Mr Van. I am still learning. (And boy am I! It is seems the more I learn let less I know! lol). I appreciate your and Jims guidance.
Phillip Hall
Come on Ben Framed, I have been gone a while but you have been around a while. I know you knew Checkerboarding (Cbing- by Walt Wright) was moving honey frames only, as much as I hammered that in :shocked: :wink:
See the sticky section...........
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=43892.0
And this one:
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=49041.msg426398#msg426398
>Come on Ben Framed, I have been gone a while but you have been around a while. I know you knew Checkerboarding (Cbing- by Walt Wright) was moving honey frames only, as much as I hammered that in :shocked: :wink:
I've been around two years and admit I do not know a diddley of what you know. But I am trying. lol
I have great respect for you and others here, and very much appreciate your answers. The last thing that I would wish do is insult one of my teachers here. One thing that almost every experienced beekeeper says here, in beekeeping there is more than one way to do get things accomplished.
I do not know if this is one those ways but, this fellow has also been around a long time, a lifetime of beekeeping, and also a professional making his living by bees. He does it a little different and it works for him. In fact he is so confident, he teaches this. I am not taking sides nor intending offend, or to pit one of my friends here against another. I am however looking at things with an open mind. Learning from you lifetimers and others as well. Hoping not to offend any of you. And especially hoping to avoid a catastrophe. lol
I will post the video and show an alternative way of checkerboarding with brood. Maybe one of you old dogs can learn from another? Just Kidding lol :grin:
Thanks for you input SC.
Phillip Hall
https://youtu.be/0XABXPyQ2rg
Not offending me brother :wink: Yep the confusion comes with the terminology. WW started by calling his system Nectar Management. Folks coined it checkerboarding or Cbing and some of the battle began.
Stuff/comments like "I have been checkerboarding for decades WW didn't come up with this" Well they were moving brood frames and WW was ONLY moving honey frames. Along with the arguments came the confusion between the two manipulations.
Both are valuable and have a use. Oh and "I've been around two years and admit I do not know a dribble of what you know" .... I know just enough not to know much of nothing :wink:
Quote from: sc-bee on April 19, 2020, 02:03:12 PM
Not offending me brother :wink: Yep the confusion comes with the terminology. WW started by calling his system Nectar Management. Folks coined it checkerboarding or Cbing and some of he battle began.
Stuff/comments like "I have been checkerboarding for decades WW didn't come up with this" Well they were moving brood frames and WW was ONLY moving honey frames. Along with the arguments came the confusion between the two manipulations.
Both are valuable and have a use.
> I know just enough not to know much of nothing :wink:
And let me add on to your add on, I do know you know more than nothing. :wink: Your Being too modest! lol
Thanks for you input and teaching, It means alot to me.
Phillip Hall
I agree with SC that the terms have been inconsistently used.
What I've heard for terms: Beekeeper may PYRAMID the brood when the bottom chamber is packed, and it seems as if the bees think there is a glass ceiling.
Pyramiding is taking ONLY the two outermost brood frames and centering them above the lower brood nest, to encourage the queen to "chimney" upward. Then the pollen frames on the outside of the brood nest are tightened into those vacant spaces, and empty frames are placed on the outside edges of the lower box.
Corrections accepted to this this technique.
"Checkerboarding" is spacing honey frames apart above a QX, as already described in this thread.
Re: Youtube videos. IMHO, anybody can turn on a phone camera and make a youtube video...not always trustworthy, and usually about 20 minutes too long. By contrast, a forum has checks and balances, and typically is pooled knowledge. Of course, that's my opinion. No heckling me on that opinion, please. :wink:
>IMHO, anybody can turn on a phone camera and make a youtube video...not always trustworthy, and usually about 20 minutes too long.
Thank for your input. No heckling here but in defence of the video maker; He has been a beekeeper for a lifetime, (and he is no teeager lol), nor is he a Johnie come lately that just picked up a camera and made a video. As I said earlier, It is not my intention to pit one beekeeper against another. One teacher against another. I was finished with the conversation when Mr HP chimed in with his wise input, until SC chimed in with his kind suggestion toward me. I was simply showing there may be other ways to skin this cat. Open Mindedness is not always a bad thing if one is very careful where he is getting the views from. No two experts always see things exactly the same in every situation. Do you agree?
Phillip Hall
Hey! You couldn't resist heckling.
Don't think of a white polar bear.
Quote from: FloridaGardener on April 19, 2020, 10:00:00 PM
Hey! You couldn't resist.
Don't think of a white polar bear.
I will always defend the good intentioned innocent; Such as the man in the video. I would do the same for you as long as I knew your intentions were honorable and innocent. You should know me by now. lol
I like white polar bears, Coca-Cola used them for years in their advertisements. My grandmother had a small collection in her home.
I suppose I must get set to defend the Coca Cola Company now? :cheesy:
Phillip Hall
Quote from: FloridaGardener on April 19, 2020, 10:00:00 PM
Hey! You couldn't resist heckling.
Don't think of a white polar bear.
Hum I see you changed your post again, via editing by accusing me of heckling. Telling the truth and defending the innocent is never heckling. As I said, I would defend you just the same If you were attacked and I knew your intentions were honorable and innocent. So who is the heckler and the attacker? Its ok as I forgive you. lol
Chill out Florida. This is following is just for your fun and a smile. Along with a outstretched hand in friendship. I hope you can take it that way. :grin:
Phillip Hall
https://youtu.be/TZHRtZpAyCg
I missed something somewhere. Was there a switchback, was there a J-hook in the road somewhere?
why Ben, .... Ben why ... WHYYYYY!!? Why did a FBM video have to show up here, on this topic?
(But even more important which I need to reconcile only myself to is ... why ... why WHYYYY? Did I spend time watching some of it?)
He has some good stuff. Generally interesting and helpful on many topics. However, that video for this topic and this thread isn't one of them. Working half filled nucs vs working full hives with different end goals require different methods. I thought we were discussing an expanding hive.
.
Thank you.
And ...I?d like to hear 2 cents from the professionals on this: Which position to place a frame of capped brood robbed from another hive, to boost a wimpy brood nest in one hive body? Center? Just at the edge?
Center seems disruptive, but then, when the capped brood hatches it?s ready for the next cycle. And it wouldn?t change the ellipse shape.
I wish to thank you also. As I thought anyone who read the above, starting with SC first post, could plainly understand the situation. Since that is not the case I will attempt to explain being you have given me the opportunity.
There was no switch back. I was finished with it as I told FG until Steve kindly reprimanded me for bringing it up in the first place. I answered Steve showing him where I originally got the information. I explained that some old timers do checkerboard the brood chamber. I was kind, respectful, curious, and attempted to be fluent, with my explanation and why I posed the video in my defense.... Of Steves reprimand toward me. Showing and telling where I heard this in the beginning and why I brought it up in the first place. I thought that was the way it was done. Again until you explained to me differently.
Again, I figured that was the end of it and was as far as I was concerned (once again) About that time FG added his comment about the matter which is more than fine with me. His opinion on the matter is just as important as anyone else's here.
But where the confusion came in as far as I am concerned,,, I will quote. FG
(Re: Youtube videos. IMHO, anybody can turn on a phone camera and make a youtube video...not always trustworthy, and usually about 20 minutes too long. By contrast, a forum has checks and balances, and typically is pooled knowledge. Of course, that's my opinion. No heckling me on that opinion, please. :wink:
What he said is absolutely true in some cases and Though I may no longer agree with the older gentleman, I took up for the old gentleman. Explaining he was no Johnie come lately YouTuber and a lifetime professional bee man. In my opinion the older gentleman deserved more respect than was given. Even if FG SC or anyone else including myself does not agree with him. I politely answered FG. Again, making sure I was polite, kind, courteous and respectful. Hoping to find a mutual ground that FG and I could stand on. The rest is history. Read it for your self.
Let me add once more in MY DEFENSE, FBM was not working a nuc. He was working an eight frame hive. For what it is worth lol.
Phillip Hall
Aaaah OK. Understood. It is finished then.
(..... PS: an 8F box is a nuc, in my world ;) )
Hey Gardener,
Regarding you brood question:
.........I?d like to hear 2 cents from the professionals on this: Which position to place a frame of capped brood robbed from another hive, to boost a wimpy brood nest in one hive body? Center? Just at the edge?
I no pro but Hope this helps:
Put the capped brood right beside, right next to and against the last frame of open brood. Do no separate existing open brood as it needs to be tended the most by the nurse bees and kept warmest. Capped brood needs no further attention and generates a bit of its own heat but not enough on its own.. Before you add any brood first make sure there are enough bees in the box to cover it all. If there are not enough bees to cover what they have AND the frame being added then nothing is gained. The added brood will chill and die. It takes 3 frames of bees to look after one big frame of brood. Try to keep that bees to brood ratio in balance as you add brood frames to one hive or take away bees from another.
Aaaah OK. lol I am glad to get that behind and finished. ;))
PS I Understand in your world it is considered a nuc and rightly so. In my world I also use 10 deeps as you. Some here in beemaster world, use 8 frame boxes as their hive. Some even 8 frame medium. I was speaking in terms of many here in the beemaster world. lol ;))
Thanks HP,
Phillip Hall
Agree with HP about the brood placement. Also about checkerboarding(or whatever you want to call it) the brood chamber in general. I try to leave the core of the brood chamber alone. Ultimately it depends on what you are wanting your bees to do. FBM's goal is to raise bees and queens. He cares very little about honey production. HP is wanting a strong colony to bring in the most honey possible. The average hobbyist is somewhere in between.
At the risk of belaboring this subject, in my horizontal hive, I am shifting the resources backwards one frame space. as well as the first frame of brood that I come to, and inserting an empty foundationless frame between that edge brood frame and the rest of the brood nest. I am doing this to use brood frames as a guide for foundationless frames. Am I breaking up, and damaging the brood nest? Exactly how many frames can I insert? The comments here are that I am "checkerboarding" the brood nest, which is bad, but I have been told it is OK to insert empties in the nest if it is warm.
Just sticking one frame at the edge of the brood nest is not disrupting the brood nest. The core of the brood nest is what you want to keep together. You could add a frame on each edge of the brood nest without much issue. When you split the core up in multiple pieces, it takes a lot for the bees to get thing back together. It also makes it harder for the queen to move from frame to frame to lay eggs.
Got it. Thanks Cao.
Quote from: Bob Wilson on April 20, 2020, 11:52:45 PM
but I have been told it is OK to insert empties in the nest if it is warm.
And a full blown hive that lacks no resources.