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SBB Issue

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  DaleJr 
#1 ·
Hello All

I have a question for the board. On my third and fifth week inspection of two new packages I have found that the queen was in the upper brood chamber. After finding the queen in the upper brood chamber on the third week inspection I reversed the brood chambers. But on the fifth week inspection I found the queen again in the upper brood chamber. I use screened bottom board from dadant that doesn't have a tray, it is open to the ground. The hive sits on a stand that is made of a reqtangular frame welded onto a pole that is buried into the ground three or four feet with about a foot and a half of pipe out of the ground. The SBB sits ontop of a ramped bottom board ontop of the steel stand. Could there be too much light entering the bottom of the hive through the SBB that the queen moves up into the upper brood chamber?

Thank you in advance.

Dale

[This message has been edited by DaleJr (edited June 21, 2003).]
 
#2 ·
I Build my own screened bottom boards and it appears that the bees build up faster on the SBB. I have not noticed the queens migrating to the top any more than usual. I have about 50% sbb and am replacing solids as I go. You may have given her too much room too soon.

Mark
 
#3 ·
The tendancy of queens to go up is often a genetic trait. hat's been our experience, at least.

The other factor is that they lose a lot of heat out of the screened bottem board. If you are in a warm area of California, this is probably of no consequence but it could be at higher elevations. I don't know about the influence of the light factor.
 
#4 ·
I did give them two chambers right off the start. It was all drawn comb but most of the upper chamber was capped honey. The packages were replacing two colonies that I lost over the winter to mites and a lost queen that I caught to late. They are storing alot of honey below the brood chamber now, so I will reverse them again.

Dale
 
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