Do the bee's build up in a brood box or down? I was thinking they build upward.
My understanding is that they build down naturally but they will build up if that is the only way they have to go.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
Its one of those "it depends" questions.
Often times colony will move up during the winter and sometimes not willingly move back down. Because of this some beekeepers will rotate lower and upper boxes to keep space above the colony. So folks in warmer climates however had said this causes their bees to swarm. This is likly because the bees are crowded (crowded how?) Well I guess southern bees like to move further south ..er.. I mean down. So with all the space above and only the floor below, they think they are crampt.
Northern bees seem to love having overhead space (to a degree).
So this doesn't fully answer your question (I can't tell you if you are far enough north or south to be one or the other). The best thing to do is try both and see what your bees like. Be warned that some bees might change their habbits depending on the time of year as well (northern bees have to get to the bottom somehow and sometime).
JEFF
If you put a package or a swarm in a stack of bee boxes they will cluster at the top and build their way down. If you put them in a box and wait until it's full and add an empty box on top, they will work up. I've even seen them build a comb from the bottom bar up.
MB gets the cigar.