Taking doubles down to single brood chambers to boost honey crop

A look in my new Monroe yard where I hope to make some honey. I started these hives two weeks ago and am reducing double brood chambers to singles to boost my honey crop.

[@RePetesBees]

Interesting! I dont think my established hives would let me go so a single. Few nice sized sunflower fields in the area give a big surge of pollen and the nest expands again. BTW, I 'think' I spotted a queen at 15:32 middle right. Maybe not, looked kinda small just had the shape. Love trying to find Waldo :P

[@Manuherikiabeekeeping]

Very interesting 👍 I know you're busy, but if you don't mind answering a question, I'm a little curious about your comb honey frames and why you only use a small section of foundation at the top instead of a whole sheet of super thin comb foundation which is what I was taught to use in southern New Zealand, . I was told by the beekeeper who trained me that a full sheet was better to draw comb faster, and straighter for good presentation. do you find it takes longer for your hives to draw comb honey frames without it, and do you have 'comb wobble ' issues if the bee's draw comb from a small section?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

My mentor Harold Swan taught me this method. I think there will be little in the speed but a full sheet might be a bit faster.

[@Manuherikiabeekeeping]

@@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer thanks for answering, I really appreciate it. I think I might experiment with a few frames in a hive and compare the results. That's the great thing about KZbin, you get to see how other beekeepers tackle the same thing with a different approach 👍👋

[@tonymarshharveytron1970]

Hello, As a retired Honey Farmer in the UK, with over 60+ years experience with bees, I have to say this video gives out the wrong advice to those taking up the craft, as what you just showed, is bad beekeeping practice for the following reasons. 1. Brood frames should never be used as Honey supers. would you like to eat honey that you had just scooped out of the toilet? Every time a bee is produced in a brood comb, the Larvae speads out it's faeces in the cell just before it spins a cacoon and pupates. This is why brood combs become progessively darker the longer they are in the hive because none of the larval faeces is ever removed from the cells, yet super comb stays clean. That means that you are storing honey in a container that is composed of ' Bee Poo '. Fine if you consume the honey yourself, but not if you are selling it. 2. Unless you provide a top entrance, any drones trapped in the top will contaminate the top half of the hive, because they can't leave the hive to relieve themselves. Eventually they will die, block the excluder and invite various organisms that feed on their decomposing bodies. 3 Unless you are cold storing or very well sealing your stored supers, you will surely lose a lot of combs through wax moth. Wax moth will very rarely attack wet clean wax supers, but love brood combs, as it is the cacoons impregnated with bee poo that they really like. 4. You are far more likely to get a lot more dead bees and rubbish in your honey at extracting time. There are many more reasons why, brood comb should oly be used for breeding, and honey suppers for storing honey. If your management system requires double brood chambers, then if you wish to reduce the brood nest for honey production, take one box away with the queen, and place over a double screen board above the supers, produce a new queen in the bottom box and if you dont want to make increase, kill the old queen off and recombine the two brood chambers once the honey has ben removed. Kind regards, Tony Marsh.

[@robertpaluska6354]

I am planning already for my winter/ spring set up for next spring. I like to re-queen to keep a fresh queen yearly. When would I plan on grafting (from my own bees) and replace my queen and still not allow my queen to go backwards in my honey production? Would I do this before the flow (when drones are flying) or after the flow has started or when the flow is over. My flow is generally over July 4th.

[@easybreezy9666]

If you find the queen a place her below the excluder then put the rest of the brood above, do you worry about drones that may be caught in the new honey super? Do the need to get out or can the get through the queen excluder?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

No I don't but an upper entrance will solve that issue.

[@RePetesBees]

I pop off the lid for a few minutes every few days to 'release' the drones. Also gives me an excuse to check how the flow is goin.

[@davidsoloninka7742]

Would u consider this a modified Demmaree method? Thx

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

It has similarities to the Demaree but does not remove the queen from the house bees as much...so would not stop swarming if they had queen cells.

[@johnlehr1036]

What do you think about single deep management using 8 frame equipment?

[@lester3836]

IMO if you allow queen to occupy two deep chambers during the spring(swarm season) and even take a split of necessary. Then, move them to the single chamber with 4 to 5 frames of brood in the lower chamber and a few in the upper when main honey flow starts, 8 frame equipment will work fine. It's more about the timing and technique than 8 vs 10 frame.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

No issues at all timing is the main concern not size of chamber. Size of chamber my influence how often you do it.

[@davidsoloninka7742]

Did u inspect the bottom brood chamber for room/ space for queen to lay?… if not is there a concern the bottom deep may get too congested invoking the swarming urge?… Many Thx

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I could see that below they ranged from 5-6 frames of brood....this will increase to 6-9 frames over the next couple of weeks. Very few swarm after this if done at this time of the flow.

[@davidsoloninka7742]

Thank you

[@lavenderbridges]

Peter, what day did you record this video?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Wed the 25th

[@Userxyz-z2d]

Here in the US Wed was the 26th 😉