[D's_Bees]

I inspected my bees the other day and I think I've made it through the worst of winter. I got down in the brood chamber and started cleaning the frames of propolis so they're easier to pull and inspect later. Anyway, I noticed a lot of honey in the chamber. More than I would have thought. I left 1 super on top this year and I'd say they ate probably 1/2 or a little more but there were still lots of open cells full of the stuff down below. Is this normal? Where will they lay the brood? Will they move the left over honey to the super at some point?

 

[D's_Bees]

I run one brood chamber. I've toyed with the idea of running two but most beekeepers around me just run 1.

 

[D's_Bees]

awesome

I'm going back in today so I'll check again. I hope I missed something.

 

[D's_Bees]

Wow, this thread really took off. I've been busy and haven't been able to get back till now. Upon re-entry into the hive I found brood. There was a small pocket that I missed. I feel much better knowing that they are there.

interesting... Even 60+ years ago when some were still keeping bees in skeps, it was understood that managed bees needed at least two deeps for brood nest. I wonder what kind of a) swarming problems they have, and b) what kind of honey production they have. I have an old edition of Walter Kelley's book, How to Keep Bees and Sell Honey and if I remember correctly, inside the front cover is a full page picture of an apiary in KY where the beek runs two story brood nests "in an area where most beekeepers use one deep for the brood nest..." and this beek has bumper crops compared to the neighbors. I'll have to dig that up later, and get the exact information.
Regards,
Steven

At our last local meeting a man came who had been raising bees his whole life and talked to us about splits and building up brood for the spring. He recommended a single deep and a shallow on top. I don't know if I've ever heard the reason why :s

"Where will they lay the brood?"

Why are you asking ? You already know the answer ! There is no place to lay brood if the box is full of honey.

If you are going to run only 1 deep for brood then you must be diligent about keeping the box open for brood. Pull the honey out and replace with drawn frames.

This is my only hive and it's only 1 year old. I don't have any other frames that have been drawn out.

I've been running almost exclusively single deeps for more than 4 years. My standard configuration is: deep, QE, upper entrance (key to success), as many supers as needed. I get 2-3 supers on the spring flow and even more with the cotton flow. This result is nearly exactly what I used to get running double deeps. I run between 15-20 colonies with this configuration.

I also ran an excluder on top of the brooder last year. It worked but once again, the local man said that I should allow the queen to move up into the first super. As the season goes on, she will go back down to the brooder and allow the ladies to fill the super with honey for the winter. I'm going to try that this year and see what happens. I'll put my QE on top of the first super and report back. As for the double brooder, if I can perform a successful split I'll try it and report back as well.

 

[D's_Bees]

http://catawba.ces.ncsu.edu/content/BeekeepingCalendar-March&source=catawba

"If there is honey and brood in the brood chamber and the queen is there, the excluder can be put on. If the queen is in the supers, she should be put in the brood chamber and the excluder put on at least three weeks before the start of the poplar honey flow so the brood in the supers will all be hatched. Do not put the queen in the brood chamber if there is no honey there. Put a quart of sugar water in the brood combs, then put the queen there."

I just found this on my NC ag extension website. I guess with that, it confirms that there should be honey in there.