switching brood hive bodies

[heaflaw]

heaflaw:
I doubt that your bees ate their way into the upper over our milder winters. This suggests that the brood nest was in the upper in mid summer when they elected to prepare that box for wintering. To prove me wrong, check locatiion of the brood nest on 1 Aug. Am betting you will find them upstairs. If so, mid summer reversal might be appropriate for your flow pattern. Walt

I think that you are exactly correct. I learned a long time ago that on the occasional years that the bees fill a honey super in fall, if I take much of it, it weakens them too much to overwinter successfully.

Your idea of reversing in late summer, letting them fill the upper deep or shallow with fall honey might work well for me. It should make checkerboarding the next spring easy. I'll be doing a lot of experimenting this year.

[victory1504]

I reverse whenever I find the bottom super mostly empty of brood. I agree that you have to be careful early in the season that you don't split the brood nest, especially before they have built up.

Yes, after several weeks you will find that the box on the bottom is again mostly empty of brood. It is the queen's nature to move up higher in the brood nest.

[heaflaw]

Stepping back from the different methods expressed here for a minute: Beekeeping is really local. Not just North vs South but even local to a 3 mile radius area. What works well in one area may not work in another. Hey, we are ALL correct!!!!!!!!

[kathyp]

as with all things beekeeping, there are no end to opinions on how to do it. if you wish to switch boxes, switch away.

i am not into "natural beekeeping" as that is commonly understood. i do believe that if you understand the behavior of creatures in their natural condition, you are better able to manage them when you keep them.

i also believe that teaching people techniques that help in management is better for their long term success, than teaching them something that may or may not be a quick fix.

[waynesgarden]

....i also believe that teaching people techniques that help in management is better for their long term success, than teaching them something that may or may not be a quick fix.

There's the difference, then. What you dismiss as a "quick fix," a whole lot of others see as a management technique that works effectively. I prefer the latter term.

Wayne