[Chick]

How have you fellows got all the brood out of a frame of honey comb, so that you could change it out? I have several frames that I would like to change, for one reason or another, but do not want to destroy the brood in it. I don't want to add a 3rd box, just to put these frames in, and the frames on the outside of the box, have brood in them, as well. The queen in this hive is very prolific. Too prolific, in fact.

 

[PoDuck]

The only way I can think of for sure is to put it on the other side of a queen excluder. Unless you are using all the same size boxes, this may not be much of an option though. Since it is a strong hive, removing a frame of brood probably won't hurt too much.

 

[Chick]

These are large frames in a brood box. I didn't want to have to add a 3rd box and an excluder. I have medium supers above the brood boxes.

 

[Chick]

I thought someone might have run into the problem and devised a way to do this. I could build a cage from plastic excluder and do them one at a time, I guess. Thanks.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

These are large frames in a brood box. I didn't want to have to add a 3rd box and an excluder. I have medium supers above the brood boxes.

One reason to have all supers/frames of the same size. It simplifies many helpful manipulations, improving flexibility in colony management.

 

[Cordovan Italian Bee]

How have you fellows got all the brood out of a frame of honey comb, so that you could change it out? I have several frames that I would like to change, for one reason or another, but do not want to destroy the brood in it. I don't want to add a 3rd box, just to put these frames in, and the frames on the outside of the box, have brood in them, as well. The queen in this hive is very prolific. Too prolific, in fact.

Take one honey frame out of each side and move frames over, keep all brood together to one side. Add two new frames as close to middle as possible with out splitting up the brood. Keep doing this until you get them all out.Bees put brood in the middle and will move new brood to the middle unless their brooding up, then you may have 7-8 frames of brood,then wait till they cut back on brood. An other way, wait until fall, when they back fill them with honey, change them out then.