when to reverse the hivebodies?

[Jim Fischer]

> Do put all the frames and hive bodies back in
> order as you close up.

Well, there IS something that can be done to
"encourage" a larger broodnest without all
the downsides of reversing, and that is to
take some empty frames from the outside edges
of the brood chamber and put them between
the frames of eggs and brood, most often
smack in the middle of the box.

Some call this "open broodnest" management,
I call it "shuffling the deck".

I think that Richard Taylor was a big fan of
this tactic, but I don't recall reading anything
about it in his books. I do recall him mentioning
it in a chalk-talk years ago, but I forget when
and where.

[Michael Bush]

I want to see a reference for egg moving too. I've only heard it speculated about and never seen any proof. It seems like, if I remember right, Huber proved it wrong back in the late 1700s.

[Dick Allen]

Hi Michael:

In a previous discussion about worker jellly vs. royal jelly, you mentioned having the 36th ed. of ABC & XYZ. The topic of bees transferring eggs is written about on page 61 of that book. In fact it is listed in the index under 'eggs, transferred'.

Although you mentioned not having Mark Winston's book 'The Biology of the Honey Bee', you can probably get a copy from the library. He writes about bees moving eggs on page 95 and gives 3 separate references for his statement.

Eva Crane also mentions bees moving eggs citing a 1936 'Bee World' reference in her book : 'Bees and Beekeeping'

It might be mentioned in 'The Hive and the Honey Bee', too, although I haven't seen it there. While THATHB is a fine book, it's index leaves something to be desired.

[Antero]

Dick Allen--not on page 95 of The Biology of the Honey Bee by Mark Winston


Terry

[Michael Bush]

Dick, thanks. I tried to find it in the index and could find no reference. I tried a number of topics where I thought it might be but still no luck. I have the 38th edition but it is still on page 61. [img]smile.gif[/img] Under "Bee Behavior".

[Antero]

Dick,Michael- on page 182 of The Biology of the Honey Bee by Mark Winston (Butler,1957a;
winston,1979b; Punnett and Winston,1983).

Terry

[Dick Allen]

[img]redface.gif[/img] nope, it isn't on page 95 of "...Biology...", it's on page 182 at the bottom (and it isn't listed in the index). page 95 is where it's listed in Eva Crane's book.

And now a few words about Crane's book: "Bees and Beekeeping: Science, Practice and World Resources". IMO, it's one of the great beekeeping reference books. It has a more useful index than that of THATHB. Published in 1990, it's already out of print. Copies can be had from used booksellers, but they're damned spendy. Check out a copy on an inter-library loan to see if it's worth putting your $$ into. (She even devotes some pages to top bar beekeeping.)

[db_land]

Thanks for the references. I guess I need to buy a couple of these books to read about it. Since bees can move eggs, I wonder: would/could bees steal eggs from another hive if queenless and had no other option for survival?