Did I do the right thing.

[DJS]

Hello everyone.

I did my first inspection of the year a few days ago (second year beekeeping) and in one of my hives with 2 deeps and 1 supper I found the bottom brood box empty of almost all bees, no brood or honey the second brood box had some brood, lots of bees, and honey stores. What I did was rotated the boxes so the box with brood is now on the bottom and the empty one is on top of it. I understand that the queen likes to work up.

Was this the right thing to do?

Thanks for any advise DJS.

[NasalSponge]

It depends, did the brood nest span between the super and top deep and did you put the super back on top?

[Maine_Beekeeper]

DJS-
It sounds from your description that you did the right thing. Reversing is a great way to reduce congestion in the colony and create space for the queen to lay. Good job.
Best to you and your bees,
-Erin

[sweetas]

I think you did the right thing. Sometimes the queen gets up to the top box during inspection. Shifting is the correct. Its also a good reason why you should not fix the bottom board to the box.

Enjoy your bees

Geoff

[Michael Bush]

As long as you don't split the brood nest, it's irrelevant. The queen in nature actually works down... but she will move into whatever space is available.

[Oldtimer]

Nice work DJS you did exactly the right thing.

The bees now feel they have a lot of space above them that they have to fill before they can swarm, so you have set back the time it will take before they even start thinking about swarming. (Bees with empty space below can still feel honeybound and swarm anyway).

Also, they prefer the honey above the brood so the honey that is now in the bottom box, will either get eaten out of the way, or moved, either of those will have a stimulative effect on the hive.

Just ensure the hive does not run out of honey before the nectar flow starts (feed it if need be), and keep the mites under control, and you should have a sweet season.

[NasalSponge]

Correct as long as you didn't split the brood nest, splitting the brood nest in half in Feb (actually anytime in my opinion) = Not good!