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  • From: Mark Waller <wallermarkw AT gmail.com>
  • To: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Shadi Cinpinski <shadikaze AT gmail.com>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] 1st year bee-keeper question
  • Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:48:53 -0500

Randall,
When you mentioned “empty frames” , do you mean completely empty or frames
with foundation but no drawn out comb? Each year I come up with a goal with
my bees. My first year was just to get them to live thru the winter. Now
its no swarming and more honey. I have two hives going nuts. Looks like
late march vs feb. I added a super to the two hive bodies as they were
filling up the hive body frames with liquid and pollen. Thanks for your
input.
Thanks,
mark waller


> On Feb 23, 2017, at 4:16 PM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Shadi,
>
> Do you have 10-frame or 8-frame boxes? That's an important piece of
> information when talking about space.
>
> If 10-frame, then you shouldn't need two deeps plus a medium super yet. As
> a year-round brood chamber, that's too much space for the bees to keep
> under control, in my opinion (7,140 square inches of comb space versus the
> recommended 5,440). Even with 8-frame, two deeps and a medium is 5,712
> square inches, nearly 300 more than optimal. Don't worry about that right
> now, though, just keep it in mind when you pull surplus supers off the hive
> in June.
>
> You have the classic condition for reversing: a totally empty bottom box.
> (Never reverse there is brood in both boxes and so reversing would split it
> up.) If you've got lots of nectar/honey in the second deep, then go ahead
> and reverse the deeps if that's what you want to do. As a purely practical
> matter, I've never found this to make the slightest difference in swarming.
> The queen isn't stupid -- she'll "reverse herself" and move to the bottom
> to lay if she runs out of room in the top. But -- reversing gives us
> something to do, allowing us to feel like we are a real beekeeper. So go
> ahead and reverse. Or don't.
>
> For swarm prevention, even better than reversing would be to take a couple
> of the empty frames and intersperse them within the actual brood nest. This
> is called "checkerboarding," and it genuinely addresses the swarming
> impulse by providing space in the brood nest. Simply adding supers or
> reversing doesn't add space in the place that matters so is generally
> ineffective wrt swarming. Checkerboarding is best done in warmer weather,
> though, when there are more nurse bees and the nights aren't so cold that
> the cluster will tighten and leave the edges of the nest uncovered,
> chilling & killing the brood.
>
> Does this help?
> Randall
>
>
>
> On 2/23/2017 3:26 PM, Shadi Cinpinski wrote:
>> Hello everyone,
>> I just got into our remaining hive. Some notes before I ask for
>> suggestions:
>>
>> - Saw plenty of drawn our comb (some capped honey in the top medium
>> super).
>> -Middle (deep super) is full of eggs, larva in various stages and nectar.
>> -Good pollen overall.
>> -few drone cells (nothing alarming)
>> -no supercedure cells
>> -Bottom deep super is essentially empty. There is drawn out comb with a
>> few frames with larva, but it's like the bees' ghost town. They are all up
>> in the middle deep super and working on the top medium.
>>
>> My question is what should I do a super reversal (swap middle with bottom)
>> to help with possible swarming- the idea that the Queen will have more
>> laying space as she works up. I read this can be done, but in 2-3 weeks I
>> will need to reverse them back.
>>
>> After the wax moths attacking and decimating one of my hives last summer,
>> I am concerned with leaving too much empty space and appreciate this
>> group's input.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Shadi
>>
>> --
>> Shadi Cinpinski,
>> 704-589-0992
>>
>>
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