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Results of Opening the Sides of the Broodnest

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#1 · (Edited)
It's great to see more people trying out "Opening the Sides of the Broodnest"

I wish I had known about this method when I was starting out! My tests so far indicate that it significantly reduces swarming, produces a larger population, I get some honey and get much more drawn comb than I did using other methods.

So to anyone trying out this method, please post details of the hive:

  • Before the manipulation
  • After what you did
  • Result after 2 weeks (How the bees responded to it)
  • What type of frames you used

Here's the updated steps.

"Opening the Sides of the Broodnest" - Steps:

1. A few weeks before swarm season, move each outermost frame from a brood box up into the middle of a new (undrawn) box, placed directly above the Broodnest.

2. Insert a new frame (with a "hole") on each outside edge of the Broodnest in the brood box. (So that a Brood frame is only on one side of each new frame.)

3. Check them in 2 weeks and repeat the steps if comb in the new frames in the brood box have been mostly drawn, but now alternate the drawn frames that are moved up, with the undrawn frames.

4. Check again in 2 weeks. The new box should now be mostly drawn. Repeat the steps again with another new box on top.

Note

  • You can start doing this as soon as Drones are starting to be raised and the weather forecast for the next week is warm.
  • For the bees to move into a box, I have found it best to have at least 3 drawn combs together, in the middle of the new box. When there is less than 3 frames in a box, they usually get emptied out. So if you have a spare drawn comb, the more the better.
  • This is for deep frames. If you use mediums the times will be more like 1 week.
  • Best to use all the same size frames.


More details:
"Opening the Sides" is all about triggering wax production before swarm season and then maintaining wax production into the main flow. So the bees build more comb for raising brood and storing nectar and also use up incoming nectar to max the wax.

This method is for beekeepers who do not have enough drawn comb.

The new frames to trigger wax making should have no more than half a sheet of foundation. Cut vertically and placed centrally, as Laurie Miller does it, works well. There must be a HOLE close to the broodnest. The hole beside the broodnest is what triggers comb building, (the need to fill the hole).

The "Sides" of the Broodnest/Cluster are opened up, rather than inserting frames into the middle of Broodnest. This is important, so that the bees are not forced to heat a larger volume than what they are used to. It also doesn't split the Broodnest which could cause issues if very cold weather sets in. Inserting frames into the Broodnest can set back brood rearing and also cause issues such as chilled brood if cold weather sets in, especially earlier in the season.

Bees will often build mostly drone comb before swarm season if the frame is completely foundationless.

The hive should have a few frames with some capped honey, at least on the top corners. I prefer not to feed, but if they haven't got enough stores you may need to, as they will use up all their stores trying to fill the hole(s) with comb. Make sure you leave them some stores close to the broodnest in case bad weather sets in.

Once wax making has started, the bees will drawn out foundation.

Only the first couple of frames beside brood need to have a "hole" to trigger wax making.


For more information see:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?293602-When-to-Open-the-Sides-of-the-Broodnest
 
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#33 ·
Early swarms start late February here. Can I start this the first week of January or is that too soon.
The timing to start this depends on whether the bees will be ready to draw new comb. Every region will be different, so I'll just add what I've experienced locally in my area as food for thought.

Our swarm season usually starts up in early May. That means the colony will be "preparing" to swarm by mid-April. I've tried inserting foundationless frames into the broodnest in April but the bees don't seem to be ready to draw new comb until early May, but by then it's too late to "prevent" swarming. It is necessary for me to use other swarm prevention methods in April such as reversing, adding empty "drawn" brood frames, etc. Once we are into the month of May the bees are more than ready with wax makers to build new comb.

I don't feed my bees pollen patties or supplements in early Spring to stimulate brood rearing, I let them respond on their own to the weather and local bloom cycles. Perhaps if I did feed them early they would be ready to build comb in April. Our major nectar flows are in June, sometimes including a week or so before and after June. That is when I prefer to have my colonies at their peak, not so much in the first half of May.

You may have completely different circumstances in Florida and this may not apply in your area. Just wanted to mention it as something to watch out for. Try inserting an empty frame on the side of the brood nest in January and see what happens. If they don't touch it be prepared to adopt other swarm prevention methods for a few weeks or until they begin drawing comb.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Yes, it not only works with foundationless frames, it requires foundationless frames (or Lauri Miller's partial foundation modification.)

I have started to use Lauri's modification, exclusively, using 2/3 of a sheet of foundation in the center of a foundationless frame. I found I got more-rapid comb drawing, as well as more thorough drawing (initiating comb-drawing activity of some kind is the whole point of this effort, IMO, not the creation of new permanent combs.) I simply break off 1/3 from a sheet of foundation. I then combine the broken-off piece with another one to make up a 2/3 assembly. So, two sheets of foundation will fill three frames. I anchor the foundation in the frame with two small blobs of wax smushed into the groove along the bottom rail.

Having foundation in a good share of the frame keeps down the enormous numbers of drones that you would get without it. I want workers more than drones at that season.

I should point out that these MattDavey frames are, in my yard, mostly a temporary item. I insert them one at a time, on a single side of the broodnest. When they've started in on one frame, I will add another one on the other side of the brood nest. As I am also, repeatedly and concurrently, doing reversals i.e., taking a new box without brood and setting it on top of one with brood, and thus encouraging the bees to move their brood area steadily "upward" from box to box. Once they've established brood in the "new" top box, I will go in and add a MattDavey-style frame on one side of the brood nest, then repeat and do the other afterward. And so on, throughout our long northeastern spring, which can stretch out for two to three months in most years.

When they have finally settled down, I inspect these new frames. As a rule they are not up the best standards of being fully, and evenly drawn out. Not to mention that there are sections of thicker drone brood sized cells on either side. So I will start slipping them outward, to get them out of active use as brood frames. By the start of summer (July), they've got no babies in them, so I remove the entire frame and replace it with a new frame (freshly waxed plastic foundation) as they will still be in the last stages of comb-drawing eagerness.

Then I cut the wax out of the foundationless areas on either side of the foundation section, and scrape off most of the wax off the foundation part. This is pretty nice wax as it has only been in service for a short period. Then I keep these MattDavey-frames ready to deploy the following spring. (After a trip through the deep freeze to kill any bug eggs.) If there is enough honey in these cells to warrant it, I will cut the comb and honey off and offer it to the bees on a plastic tray set on top of the frames inside the hive. The bees will quickly scavenge the honey and leave the dry wax for me to take over to the solar wax melter.

In general I only deploy four to six of these frames per hive each year (max of two-per box times three deep boxes per stack). Occasionally they make an extra nice one, which will be retained in the main cohort of brood frames, Or I may press a MD frame into service in a pinch, for housing a swarm or split, etc. But I have found it most satisfactory to keep the frames separate and use them in the spring because the combs are just not as perfectly drawn, and even as the one that are made on foundation. If that didn't bug you, then you could just see them as permanent additions. Except that if your goal is to remain foundationless, then you'd be gradually integrating them into your brood frames.

Though if you chose to use only fully empty frames (not partial sheets) it wouldn't make a difference. It's just that the best foundationless comb-drawing seems to happen, at least for me, much later in the season when nectar supplies and temperatures are better suited to the task. Keep in mind that these frames are deployed to somewhat upend the very early-spring bees' plans regarding getting ready to swarm, as well as to get them into the waxing-making "mood." Which is why I think the quality of the combs is less-desirable than ones made later on. It took me awhile to figure out that it was perfectly OK to have dedicated MD frames ready to deploy each year, with no worries about how they were drawn. It doesn't work to give them drawn comb, with cells, on the foundation section in the middle. They need to be presented with un-drawn areas, both open and with foundation, but if there is a thin layer left from scraping it off the previous year, that seems to be fine. And having a set of frames with the center sections all made up, saves a lot of fuss and trouble in a very busy season.

(Up until now, I could always locate these frames because they were wood amidst my normal all-black Pierco combo frames. But this year, due to SHB pressure, I will begin transitioning to foundation and wood frames for all frames, so I will soon lose this visual advantage unless I follow through on my plan to paint the top surface of the MD frames.)

Since you're in FL, your "early spring" may have already started. (Mine will start three months from now, i.e. late March, with swarm season starting usually around the third week of May.) And you may have a situation more similar to Matt's (he's in Australia), where a single manipulation of adding an empty frame on either side of the brood nest in one go, perhaps successively, is the best way. I was bemused and wary, at first ,of adopting this technique because it seemed unlikely to work in SE Australia as well as southeast of the Adirondacks in NYS But it does, with some modifications. The main item regarding timing is that the hive as to be big enough to be able to handle at least one empty space of the side of the brood frame area. I usually start adding in the MD- manipulation about three weeks to a month after I've done my first reversal, or about the middle of April, here. Temps are still below freezing most nights at that point.

Give it a try in your area, but keep an eye on things to make sure it is doing what you'd like it to do. I can't imagine running bees in the spring without using it. And this technique, along with my other anti-swarm efforts, have completely prevented me from ever loosing a swarm from my yard. My bees stay where I want them to be, and without the need to constantly split them every year. Since, in general, I also never have any winter losses, avoiding having to make splits to control swarming, allows me to keep a steady and controlled number of hives. That is an enormous benefit for me. Beekeeping in the current mode of constantly making splits and nucs and more colonies to make up for losses would simply not work for me.

Nancy,
 
#35 ·
Thank you for the information. Our average low in January is 45 with average day time temps above 50. Typically we have fly days most of the year. Last year temps were 20-25 degrees below average. This will be my 4th year, but only my second going into spring with a hive. I have three 10 frames and four nucs that are still alive. Last year was the year to improve splitting. I have no extra comb beyond what they are in. Running nearly all mediums. My first instinct is to let nature take its course, but I want to be a bit more proactive this year and really need comb. Is all the comb drawn as drone? The bit of foundationless they drew last summer was small natural cell sized, which I like for the potential help with mites. If feeding for comb, does it need to be pollen and sugar? Mike's suggestion of just give it a try is probably what I need to do. Last look, the cluster filled a couple of frames. Just double checked and even when the temps are predicted to get into the 30s at night, the daytime is mid 50s and higher. Throwing that out there in case it can help figure out my timing.
 
#36 ·
, but I want to be a bit more proactive this year and really need comb. Is all the comb drawn as drone?
Based on my experience they will usually draw a lot of drone comb during and just after the swarm season. I find that following Michael Bush's method of inserting foundationless frames in between frames of solid worker brood gives me the best chance that the bees will draw worker comb rather than drone comb. But there needs to be plenty of bees in the hive to fill the gap made with the empty frame. This works best for me just after swarm season has ended. If you stay at it you can really build up a lot of extra drawn comb in a month or two.
 
#37 ·
Okay. So use this method prior to swarm and checkerboard after swarm season starts. Our season starts at the end of Feb/start of March. My local guy usually has made nucs from swarm cells and starts selling them at the end of Feb. I think we are going to give this a try now on nucs and try Squarepeg/Walt's checkerboarding on the bigger hives in early Feb.
 
#39 ·
Okay. So use this method prior to swarm and checkerboard after swarm season starts.
Checkerboarding Walt Wright style is done with "drawn comb" early in the season as the colony is building up.

If you are inserting empty frames into the brood nest or on the sides after swarm season, only do this with one or two frames at a time. Repeat as they draw out the comb. Too many at once can stretch out the brood and create problems. Just wanted to clarify.
 
#41 ·
Lots of commingled and confusing terms and ideas floating about!

"Checkerboarding", in the context that Walt Wright is using, requires ALL drawn combs and it is done early in the year, but not in the brood area. It is the alternation of drawn combs with stores and drawn combs with empty cells. The bees are expected to move up into the checkerboarded box, eat the food there, and then use both types of combs as brood areas. It is done in the very early spring.

Sometimes he word checkerboarding is used to describe something else: the alternation of drawn and and undrawn combs to accelerate and facilitate comb drawing, and the drawing of straight, even foundationless comb. Empty frames, offered in bulk, may look like good places to make comb, but the bees tend to see it differently. And the result is often uneven, wavy, troublesome combs. However empty frames inserted between a pair of already drawn frames that act as guides turn out much better. You can place the empty frame between both brood and honey combs, but if you are using active brood frames as comb-guides it has to be warm enough, and there have to be enough bees to cope with the sudden "hole" in the brood nest area. This typically doesn't happen until late spring, or early summer so this form of checkerboarding is not an anti-swarming tactic as that would be too late. But even later, you have to be thoughtful about how man and where the the frames are inserted into the boxes. A honey super can be completely fulled with an empty/drawn alternation and if the flow is strong enough you'll get decent new comb out of the deal. In a brood nest, I would be more cautious. In warm weather a frame or two inserted right in the middle, in an alternating fashion with drawn, and active worker brood cells, will probably be OK and get drawn out as nice cells. A wholesale, full box alternation, will probably not be as completely successful, as you'll likely get one or more of the outer frames drawn as drone cells. Of curse, boys are nice to have around the house, too, but sometimes there can be too many of them. (Or at least more than we, as beekeepers, would like unless we plan on using drone trapping as a varroa management tool.)

Full frames with undrawn foundation do NOT work as well as empty frames, or partially empty frames when deployed in MattDavey's method. You need the vacant space, just outside of the active brood area for this to work as described. And only a single frame, or a single one on either side of the active brood nest at one time. You can repeat the manipulation after they have drawn out and placed brood in the first rounds of MD frames. You would do this is you are running only one brood box (say, one of the 12-frame Dadant behemoths). I run three deeps as my brood area, and I am continually reversing them to keep the bees brooding up into empty cells, so I almost never add more than two MD frames per box, and often less than than two. As I explained above, I don;t find these frames, which I am primarily using as an anti-swarm technique to very high quality additions to my comb stock. Not like those I would make later on in the season by inserting a frame between two active combs. I struggled with this until I had the insight that it was perfectly fine to have a set of dedicated MD frames that I deployed each year, for that purpose alone. And if I wanted to increase my frame stock (and who doesn't?) then I should have a plan to do that when the resources (bees and nectar) were more conducive to that project, all by itself.

I don't like foundationless frames more than those made on plastic foundation. I think foundation saves the bees some work in our short northern comb-making periods. I provide an extra layer of hand-applied wax to Pierco combo frames and my bees, given opportunity and the nectar to do support it will draw out, and fill, a full box of 10 deep frames in a couple of weeks. For various reasons I have always had them tasked with doing that in each have every year, (often more than one box).

If foundationless frames are your goal, you'll get there faster, and with less wasted effort by the bees, if you start with getting the bees to drawn comb on foundation. The original foundation-supported frames will be the guides for the foundationless frames in the second and subsequent years.

Starting out completely foundationless in Lang equipment (with a full box with just empty frames) may work, but you will need to be extremely intrusive in the early days and weeks, correcting and redirecting the bees' efforts every few days. And you will have to be prepared to cull swathes of brood that are placed in inappropriate or poorly-formed combs. It just seems easier to get them to drawn a first set of foundation-guided frames, and then use those as models for foundationless frames in other years. Yes, folks who do TBH are completely foundationless, but they need to devote the same amount of trouble and time to monitor and correct wild comb there, too. I just hate being at such cross purposes with my bees' efforts, and I am lazy enough to want to pen box with new frames and admire all their work, not fuss at it and cause them to remake some of it.

Foundationless may sound like the simpler solution, but is not. You could think of foundation as a communication device: telling the bees where the best place for them to focus their efforts to make combs. You are not locked into foundation forever, though. A first round of foundation will set the stage for a much easier task afterward.

New beekeepers often see sets of frames, and even boxes, untended for a single hive, as discrete, dedicated things. In fact, they are at best temporary housing, work spaces, and movable furniture for the bees.

Nancy
 
#42 ·
Thanks Nancy for your comments.

Nothing more I need to add, just a few points I want to emphasize.

Opening the Sides of the Broodnest is intended as a Swarm Prevention method, especially for beekeepers who don't have much drawn comb. So it needs to be started a few weeks before swarm season and done at least a few times during swarm season. So timing is based on when swarm season starts in your area.

The main objectives as a Swarm Prevention method are to:
  • Encourage Broodnest Expansion
  • Trigger Wax Making

Another objective is to have little impact on the current Broodnest and so that it is not as susceptible to sudden cold weather, which can happen in other methods.

To be clear, we are expecting Drone comb to be built in any "holes" before or during swarm season.

I don't have a problem with using Drawn Empty Frames instead of Partial Foundation Frames, as this still encourages Broodnest expansion. But if there is a lot of nectar coming in at the start of swarm season, it may just get filled with nectar before the Broodnest is expanded into it.

I would suggest using Partially Drawn Empty Frames (at least 1/2 the frame drawn) rather than Fully Drawn Frames so that there is still a "hole" that needs to be filled in to complete the Broodnest.

Another thing, for the bees to move up into a new box, I have found there needs to be at least 3 frames with honey, ideally 4 should be placed in the new box, all together in the middle. With less that 3 frames, the frames may get emptied out and not be treated as part of the nest.

If the hive is full of bees and you have brood in 2 boxes, you could move 2 outside frames from each box, up into the new box to make up the 4 frames.
 
#45 ·
Yes, I did use checkerboarding to mean alternating and to mean Walt's checkerboarding. Easy to interchange it, but not productive for understanding which is being referred to. It sounds like the start of Feb will be when I should time put an empty frame next tot he brood nest as well as using walt's on my bigger hive(s). The main Walt method I'm thinking of has multiple boxes of comb, so it will depend on what they have emptied out. March, maybe April-June should be honey time and time for comb building in honey boxes. Thank you for the help on timing. I have a better plan now. Very difficult to figure out when most of the country is still waiting for their season to start.
 
#46 ·
Walt's technique was used by him early in the spring, i.e. late Feb or March. He was in the south TN, northern AL area, I think. So Feb in FL may be too late for it.

I use Walt's technique first, in my earliest inspection (end of of March, 1st week of April most years). And I use it (and box reversal) for at least a month before I begin to use MattDavey's manipulation. In practice this means that I usually don't start Matt's plan until AFTER I've done a second box reversal. In relation to my prime swarm season, I guess I do Walt's thing a bit less than two months before and Matt's about a month before.

I am reluctant to add any empty space around the brood nest in the period between first inspection and when the hive has built up enough to be able to fill it with bee bodies to keep the brood warm at night. My last frost date is the third week of May up here in Z4b/Z5a. The extended break up of winter in the north is vastly different from the shorter transition in warmer parts of the country. So it's not just the different temperatures (both daytime for foraging possibilities, and night for brood-warming requirements) but it's also the length of time it takes to transition that drives the geographic/climatological
differences.

My bees will start brood by the end of January, and then it will be nearly two full brood cycles before they can expect to be out foraging most days. And another one before they are ready to swarm.

Nancy
 
#47 ·
Good to know. I just got into my 4 nucs. I'm pretty sure the one I expect to die out is still going to die out. The other three are doing well. One had a double sided frame of brood and four frames of bees. One with water on the bottom has a baseball size of capped brood, but an 1"-1.5" of young/eggs around that and the other side has a full hand size of young eggs/larvae. New comb too. Since it actually had a deep frame and built some of the mediums to deeps, I had to put it in a double deep and leave the sides empty. Most of the nuc was full of bees, so I think they will be able to handle it. Many are out flying. My strongest nuc has 5 frames of comb, but two boxes of bees and five sides with eggs/larvae as well as new wax building. The are bringing in pollen from somewhere. I didn't expect to see white comb. They haven't even eaten half the sugar I put in there months ago.

I hope to get back out there to look into the full sized hives and may give walt's technique a go now since some new comb is in the nucs. Had to take a break though due to problems with the neighbors dog sticking it's nose under their fence and trying to bite mine. Thankfully it is only a jagged tear on her nose, but my patience are about out. Not good to work bees while pissed.
 
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