Double or Single Brood Box

[kirk boy]

I am a new beekeeper and should have bees by May they come in a five frame B S nuc i will start them of in a Brood Box, once the box is getting to crowded should i put on a Super or another Brood Box i would be grateful to hear the pros and cons on the matter.

[Jon]

Hi KB
Don't put on a super until they have drawn out all the frames of foundation in the brood box.
Also, don't be tempted to put on a super until you have 7 or 8 frames of brood.
If you give the bees space they don't need, it makes it harder for them to regulate the hive temperature.
The trick is timing. When the population reaches a certain number, they will start to make swarm preparations if they don't have enough room.
When the box looks full of bees you have to check for queen cells every 8-9 days with or without a super on.
If you put on a super before the outside frames are drawn they will just work up into the super and ignore the outer frames, thus reducing the space the queen has to lay in.
The bees don't realize the excluder stops the queen and they will prepare cells for her to lay in above the excluder even though she can't get through.
Most local bees seem to get by fine in a single brood box.
Some nucs are much stronger than others and could conceivably double in size within a month if they arrive packed with sealed brood over most of the 5 frames.
Other races such as Carnica, Ligustica or Buckfast make bigger colonies and probably need a second brood box but I would always recommend getting local bees from local suppliers.

PS. Hope the nuc is not supplied by Poundland.

[rourkie]

hi kb you are about to find out if you ask beekeepers a question you will get a lot of different answers, I dont agree with jon if you wait and give the bees to little space you will create problems ,if a honey flow starts your bees will fill the brood combs with honey and you will not have room for the queen to lay and your nuc to expand as it wants to , bees in the wild like to build there comb verticaly not horizontal give them space,they know what to do with it ,If you use double broods thats fine I have always kept my bees on double nat broods and super above this .You dont say if you are looking for a honey crop or not. I would advise not to use a brood and a half complicates hive management to much. Also be prepared to feed you nuc to help it expand. Regards jim