checkerboarding

[JD]

How many people out there have tried checker boarding and what did you think of the results?

[FRAMEshift]

I have done brood opening but not checkerboarding.  As I understand it, checkerboarding is a springtime event, about 4 weeks before the redbud blooms.  Here in NC that would put it in early March.  And checkerboarding only works if you place the empty drawn frames alternating with honey frames directly above the broodnest.  So it would only work in a Langstroth architecture and not in a long hive or top bar hive.  There is an ongoing experiment on checkerboarding  at MB's website.  I have not heard any results.

[hardwood]

I don't checkerboard but I do steal frames of brood from the strongest hives in spring (and whenever else I need them) to make grafts from or to boost weaker colonies for the flow. It seems to help with swarming...only 1 swarm so far this year.

Scott

[beekeeper1756]

I did something I call checkerboarding and it worked.  When I put the next hive body on top of the first, I checkerboarded the frames with foundation to draw the bees up.  worked like a charm.

[luvin honey]

Well, I checkerboarded this year. Only, I misremembered my information and checkerboarded the broodnests. NOT a good plan and a lesson I will not be likely to forget. I either stressed them into EFB or have a big problem with chilled brood (before the bear got them, that is). I'm in topbar hives, which may render my whole opinion pointless anyway.

[FRAMEshift]

Well, I checkerboarded this year. Only, I misremembered my information and checkerboarded the broodnests. NOT a good plan and a lesson I will not be likely to forget. I either stressed them into EFB or have a big problem with chilled brood (before the bear got them, that is). I'm in topbar hives, which may render my whole opinion pointless anyway.

According to MB and Walt, checkerboarding only works with vertical hives.  The open storage space (drawn comb) must be immediately above the brood nest where it will make a big impression on the bees in the strategic planning department.   :-D   I have not heard of an equivalent for long or top bar hives.  

You can use brood opening  on all kinds of brood nests though.  That would be BBEBBE  where B is filled brood and E is an empty (not drawn) frame.  You don't want to go beyond every third frame because the nurse bees can't cover and you do get chill brood.  If you don't mind going into the hive every couple of weeks, you could just add one empty frame at a time and don't add more unless the last one is well along.  

And just for those who may not have heard of brood opening, when you add empty frames, you move the replaced frames to the side and move the outside frames up to the next box.  So gradually over time, new frames appear in the brood core and migrate out and then up. Or in the case of a long hive, move them  away from the entrance.

[JD]

Opening up the the brood nest I would think should help in swarming. It would break open the top cap of honey which is the objective. As far as honey production does it seem to increase the amount of honey produced?  JD

[luvin honey]

Yeah, I was trying to stay ahead of the game this year. Last year, I had at least 1 swarm from each hive. Unfortunately, I did BEBEBEBE, and even though the weather was quite warm the few weeks after that, it seems they suffered chilled brood or EFB.

[FRAMEshift]

Yeah, I was trying to stay ahead of the game this year. Last year, I had at least 1 swarm from each hive. Unfortunately, I did BEBEBEBE, and even though the weather was quite warm the few weeks after that, it seems they suffered chilled brood or EFB.

We had some EFB right at the beginning of June.  Once the flow got rolling, the EFB disappeared.  We visited some neighbors with some very well tended and healthy hives, and they also had EFB.  I think it's ubiquitous and just pops up under stress.  Not usually serious if you take care of the bees.

Yeah, I would say you really disrupted the organization of you brood nest by having half of your frames empty.  You don't have to go that far to prevent swarms.

[luvin honey]

I seem to always learn things the hard way, but then I don't forget :)

[1of6]

Giving this thread a bump - we'll quickly approach the right time for those who are going to checkerboard. 

It was nice to find at least an entry or two out there on this, but I'm curious to see if this practice's scarcity on the threads is an indicator of how many or how few are employing this practice.

I do checkerboard as much as my local weather will permit early in the year, and have learned that it's a great tool if used properly - in aiding in buildup, as a partial measure in swarm deterrent, and as a management technique to help gain those nice big boomer hives (when used with generously-sized brood nests.)  For my area it's also seemed that it needs to be followed up with a second expansion or wave of checkerboarding, or possibly peeling off a small split depending on colony strength. 

Anyone else want to weigh in with their checkerboarding practices/results as they pertain to their particular region?

[squarepeg]

i wanted to try checkerboarding this spring.  but since last year was my first full year with bees i did not have the resources, i.e. extra drawn comb and capped honey reserves, to make it happen.

i did have four hives that overwintered in one deep with one medium on top.  for these, i alternated capped honey and empty comb in the medium.  in these hives so far, the bees are expanding the broodnest up into the medium.

i am just now getting drones flying and it is not quite swarm season here yet.  time will tell if this manipulation will keep them from swarming or not. 

the other thing i wanted to do was to expand the broodnest in the deep.  but they are not drawing wax yet and i don't have any drawn deep frames.

walt wright's manuscript about checkerboarding is a very good read.  it has some really good observations about what to watch for in the hive as the bees come out of winter and transition into spring leading up to swarming.

[annette]

My Spring time management consists of taking the empty bottom super and placing it on top. Then I checkerboard the brood nest like this: BBEBBE . Empty being totally undrawn frames so the cluster can still keep the brood warm.  I don't usually add more than 2 empty frames per super. I also bait the now top super with a frame of honey or some pollen.

I try to get back in within 2 weeks and open up the brood nest again. I don't usually do this more than twice. After that, I just let them do what they want.

This is the style I feel most comfortable with and so far it has worked out well.

Or just do a split, only I do not want any more hives.

Annette

[1of6]

Annette and SquarePeg, thanks much for the response.

I found early on that simple reversing just didn't provide everything that I was looking for, or at least didn't stretch the brood nest out as quickly as I was hoping to.  Now, early in the year I like to 'pyramid up' and pull a frame or two of brood up into the next box on any colonies that haven't started moving up, and checkerboard 'HEHE' around and above the brood nest.  This works great for me in a 3-deep broodnest configuration. I love that folks are putting the description of 'BBEBBE' for a standard (or at least practice) of brood nest expansion out there.  In the Laurel Highlands of PA, we have to be a little careful about stretching the broodnest out early, which is why I still like to pyramid up, because the small amount that get moved up still benefits from heat rising off the cluster, and does not place a large number of bees at risk being stretched horizontally.  With the cold spells in my area in spring, this seems to provide a little insurance during brooodnest expansion.  They might still accomplish the same end effect if left to their own devices, it just seems to hurry the process along a little in my case.

[annette]

I have taken some courses with a fabulous beekeeper here named "Serge Labesque". He doesn't move up the bottom empty super because he says the bees need that space to hang out when they return from foraging. Michael Bush told me I can place that empty super on top. This way I am not breaking up the brood nest like when people reverse their supers.

Serge does exactly what you did. He just places an empty super on top and baits it with honey, pollen, etc. He does open up the brood nest a bit though with some empty frames, but he doesn't place the empty frames between brood, he places them on the outer edges. I do what Michael Bush has told me to do. BBEBBE. As long as there as enough bees to fill in the empty spaces and keep all the brood warm.

[1of6]

Annette, still sounds like different variants on similar ideas.  I'd love for it to be warm enough to start urging them on with expansion, but with temps in the mid-teens last night, it may still be a little early here for anything more then CB-ing around and above the broodnest - probably no BBEBBE for a little bit yet, and maybe if we can hold off on that for a little bit, they'll be strong enough to pyramid up into the second box.  Most of our third boxes should still be as heavy as they were put to bed with in the fall, so anticipating that (hopefully) most will be in the second box, I hope to have the first and third deeps available to checkerboard after the second is moved down.

Your friend Serge may operate in the manner of trying to get them to move both downward and upward.  His approach of only placing empties outside of the broodnest is a safe approach if anticipating a very late extreme cold snap.  It allows the closter to stay as tight and compact as possible later in the year.  The tradeoff is (only a very nominally) delayed broodnest expansion. 

[annette]

Yes, you understand exactly where Serge is coming from.