Two queen hive

[Lesgold]

Hi guys,

With the spring buildup getting underway, it is time to get everything prepared for a two queen hive experiment. About 5 or 6 years ago I was talking to a beekeeper who had a couple of two queen hives that he said were amazing when there was a flow of nectar underway. It sounded really interesting and I built some of the components for the hive but never got around to putting it into action as I never really saw the need for it over a standard hive. This season will be the year that I give it a try. The thinking was to use this hive for comb honey production as wax would be drawn quickly, cells filled and the honey capped in a short period of time. I will have a good honey flow later in the year when the iron bark will be flowering. It makes beautiful comb honey and I want to be able to take advantage of the time to build up comb honey stock. When I finalise all of the hive components, a few pictures will be posted. The first requirement is a couple of hives with queens of a similar age. I will make splits in the next week or so to get this underway. The hives will need to be up and racing by November so I?d better get things started. Progress will be posted on a regular basis and will include all the successes and failures of the experiment. 

[Ben Framed]

Les I am very much interested in your project here. If it?s not a whole lot involved, the advantages and results should be worthwhile in production of all products bees produce! A two for one gain in each hive if all goes well?

I remember The HoneyPump chimed in on the subject of a two queen hive some time ago, I would like to go back and find that conversation, as well as other conversations on this subject. Hopefully other beekeepers will find this topic interesting as well. Please keep the information and updates coming.

Thanks,
Phillip

[Terri Yaki]

This sounds interesting.

[Lesgold]

There are a few ways that I know of to produce two queen hives and they all have problems. I?m sure that there are many more out there that you guys may want to share. The simple method would be to make the hive in a vertical configuration with a queen and a brood box at the bottom and another one at the top of the hive with queen excluders used to isolate the queens. Honey supers would be in the middle of the hive. The big issue would be getting to the honey supers. The top brood box would have to be removed which would be a bit of a pain. Getting to the bottom brood box would be an uncomfortable job with a lot of lifting and quite a few bees to deal with. Another method that I have considered is to use a Demaree board to keep the queens apart and use two entrances. As the top hive grows, bees could be bled from the top hive to make a super hive underneath. Changing entrances every week or two would enable bees to be continually moved to the supers below. This method should also work well but has similar issues to the first method. Increased swarm potential due to high bee numbers will be a constant problem with a two queen hive. Young, new season queens will need to be used to help reduce swarming potential. This type of hive could also build up to be very high. Managing supers at height  could also create issues.

The method that I will be using uses two brood boxes side by side. Honey supers will be shared by both hives in a single stack above the brood boxes. I now have all of the items sorted so I will post some pictures later.

[farmer9989]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27gIpvDcmws&t=51s
Ian runs new Queens 6 frame nuc three together under regular 10 frame boxes three on top and keeps stacking .

[Lesgold]

That looks good as well 9989.  Should work a treat and a good way to utilise young, expanding hives.

[Lesgold]

Just thought I?d post a couple of pics of the basic hive that I?ll be using. The first step is two identical bottom boards with the entrance reversed on one. (That?s what I was told but I don't think that is essential.) a brood box is placed on each bottom board. (They should sit so that the tops of the brood boxes are aligned and flat. A splitter board then sits on top of the brood boxes.

[Lesgold]

A queen excluder is then placed on the middle section of the splitter board. Bees from both hives will share the excluder. Supers can then be stacked above the excluder as required. Small, half lids will then cover the exposed sections of the brood boxes. (Note the turned up galvanised iron rain deflectors which will keep most of the moisture out of the brood box) The advantage of this system is that there is at least some easy access to half of the brood box. Next step is to start splitting a couple of hives.

[Michael Bush]

https://bushfarms.com/beestwoqueenhive.htm

[maxell86]

Nice construction and practical work. Lesgold.
How did you go with your two queen hive?

[Lesgold]

Thanks Maxell86.

Unfortunately the death of my father and other family issues have put beekeeping on the back burner this season. There was also no strong flow on this year so it would have been pointless to set it up anyway. Will put in place when I see the potential to take advantage of this system.

[The15thMember]

Sorry about your father, Les. 

[Ben Framed]

I am too Les... My sincere condolences to you and your family..

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Thanks guys. We move on and step up to challenges as they arrive.