Should You Double Brood Your Bees?

[@keithadams1538]

Just installed one of your queens today. I pop the tabs Sunday. My gut was telling me to put a super on as an additional brood chamber. This is a very helpful video thanks Laurence

[@TravelWithMarti]

love watching your videos bro

[@harbourhoney]

This is a really great and focused lesson thank you. As a pretty new bee keeper, I really struggle with manipulating as I do not have enough drawn frames. Your advice of using the workers after the solstice is really helpful.

[@hsharky8437]

As a first year keeper im trying to read up as much as I can around this to navigate the swarm season next year. As always a fantastic video Lawrence, would love to visit the apiary some time!

[@MyPrince1981]

The best video Iv seen on KZbin 👌 proper no nonsense 🙌

[@lornamahoney1042]

Love this and great explanation for second year beekeeper 👍

[@yakladious]

Very helpful!! You've mentioned previously that you try to reduce hives to single brood for the winter.. Any thoughts when and how to reduce to single brood for the winter? thanks heaps!

[@geraltofrivia8529]

You can demaree the hive whenever you like, either after initial swarm season or later in the season (now) although demareeing now will mean they store honey in the brood area as it emerges.

[@nicke6394]

Really good explanation 👍

[@radoslawjocz2976]

I think it is much easier to manage the bees in one brood box and rest of the boxes acts as supers. I am using BS National with single brood with queen excluder on the top of it and a few supers depending on the strength and the season. My bees are Buckfast strain. I always had a problem with queen cells at the begining of the May so I decided to do something properly with it this year. I made wooden queen cage, the bees can go in and out the cage to take care of the queen but the qeen cannot go out. If queen is in the cage cannot lay the eggs. This is only the way to ensure the colony streghth is not excessive and bees are bringing a lot of nectar. This year I harvested exceptional amout of honey. If bees are not feeding new larva they will bring more honey instead. I can cage the queen as long I wish one month or two, it works well. So I dont need Brother's Adam Dadant beehives to be able to manage Buckfast bees, much cheaper and much easier is to make cage.

[@mickhoyle4064]

That's a very good explanation, I double brood Buckfast and 14x12 Black's. BTW, how about doing a video about Horsley Boards as I use loads for swarm control?

[@DenbeeHoney]

Great advice. Just the answers I were looking for. Thanks BMH

[@danbrookes88]

This is super helpful, whilst I gave my bees plenty of room, i should have split after swarm cells appeared and i wouldn't have lost my new colony. How do I extract the honey from the Brood Frames? I'm assuming that this can be done. This could get messy!

[@BlackMountainHoney]

Yes - you can extract honey from brood frames as normal. Its a bit more difficult to uncap due to the cocoons but spins out just fine. Dont extract if you have treated them with Apivar before

[@brittenv1000]

Should I push them down from 2 brood to 1 for winter?

[@andybryson5061]

Hi Laurence, when the bees move from the bottom box to the top box, is that a good way to get rid of old comb in the bottom box instead of Bailey Comb Change for example? Thanks. Andy.

[@jays200gspsreeftank7]

Love a demaree I do.

[@stewillo86]

What about Langstroth brood, would you advise double brooding them as well?

[@nickyaw514]

I am a little confused, you use the demaree split to help with swarm control but then said only a split will actually stop swarming. What did I miss? I have been considering single brood because the bees just fill the top box with a ton of honey.

[@danielharrison10]

What about a 14 by 12 broad box? I still have problems with swarming. Would you maybe just give the bees a super as extra broad space? I brought one of your queens this year and I’ve got my first full super of honey (3 years trying).

[@ptitepince]

Can you ship bees to Canada? We often buy some from Australia but I would be curious to test them out!:)

[@Dan-wo4bx]

If you can get someone to ship some buckfast queens they are great bees mine are super chill and produce a good yield. I’m sure someone would send you some but probably wouldn’t give you a guarantee they will arrive alive. I rekon the closer to the east coast you are the better!

[@Dan-wo4bx]

If you can get someone to ship some buckfast queens they are great bees mine are super chill and produce a good yield. I’m sure someone would send you some but probably wouldn’t give you a guarantee they will arrive alive. I rekon the closer to the east coast you are the better!

[@jericho_bees]

I don't think we can ship from the UK. It could be worth seeing if Paul Kelly of The Honeybee Research Centre is selling any because I think they are island mated. I seem to remember reading that they sometimes sell a limited amount.

[@SmirnockIce]

I literally just bought and currently moving my hive from a Nation brood box into a Long (2x National length) brood box. I guess I should've waited for this video before attempting this but I guess I'll find out how well it'll go 😅

[@JoshuaSterriker]

What are your thoughts on double brood vs 14/12?

[@Dan-wo4bx]

14x12 is expensive I’m trying to get shot of mine and go double standard poly brood boxes

[@geraltofrivia8529]

Commercial is exactly the same footprint, you can put national supers on and the brood boxes are £4 more than a national in thornes sale. I dont know what this guff about them being expensive is. Selling new modern gear whilst most people are happy using traditional stuff and bees are happy living in dead trees.

[@Dan-wo4bx]

@@geraltofrivia8529 i buy my frames and foundation 110 at a time standard brood is £190 14x12 is £299! Sell far more standard nucs than 14x12 .D’ont know much about commercial my supplier doesn’t sell the frames i’ve never seen a nuc in that size and never been asked for a nuc in that size. I wish the u.k was langstroth like the rest of the world they’re a great frame size !

[@melvinyoder1954]

Do you send to the USA

[@NeekTheNook]

This was good advice... Why did it not come 2 months ago before my hive decided to start swarming :(

[@simbobcrafts4843]

I keep single deeps with no excluder. That way the brood nest is as big as it wants to be. Later in the season the supers get back filled with honey ready for spinning out and the brood is back on a single box ready for winter. No need to worry about brood in supers, the rest of the world doesn't and it doesn't taint honey when spun out, that is a myth.

[@BlackMountainHoney]

@@simbobcrafts4843 I agree. It doesn't taint honey. It makes your supers prime target for wax moth though

[@LittleRiverBees-or6qp]

I can sitr next to my Russian bees all day too. Just don't mess with their hive.