Double brood.

[Hoomin_erra]

Hey All

For the first time ever, i have a hive that has managed to explode on to double brood. But now with the end of the season approaching, i'm not sure what to do. They have brood on about 4 of the frames in the top box, and over every frame in the bottom box. The rest of the top box is solid honey.

how do i get them to take the honey up, and how do i get them back t 1 brood box for the winter??

[Bridget]

No idea - but lucky you!;)

[Trog]

Personally, I'd keep them on two b/b. The last thing you want to do is to cram a large number of bees into one box. When all that brood hatches, think how many bees you'll have ... Next spring you'll be able to decide whether or not to split them into two colonies or leave them as a strong, honey-gathering colony. In a good year, you'll even manage two strong, honey-gathering colonies after splitting!

[Hoomin_erra]

I'd rather no leave them on double. I'm gonna have to shift them to their winter site in a month or so, and even though they are smiths, they are still bloody heavy. Unless you can suggest a way of splitting them to move them.

[gavin]

I wouldn't split them, unless you have a spare queen to hand and you are keen to increase numbers. You could shake the bees off sealed frames of honey, replace with foundation, and take them away for extraction. The brood nest will naturally shrink over the next couple of weeks and you may be able to rearrange them into one box before you shift them. However if you do that you may have to feed them, unless they back-fill the brood area with honey as the brood raising declines (they may already have done so of course).

You're on a loser trying to get them to take honey up now. Some years on the heather you are eyeing a honey crop in a part-filled super around now and return later to find it moved into the brood box. Murray gets his high yields of heather honey by stripping the brood box(es) then feeding.

The friend who started me in beekeeping used to split his hive at swarming time, take both to the heather, and unite the two with newspaper once back home. I'm not recommending this, as powerful colonies are more likely to give you a crop, but I was just reminded that he shuffled all the frames with bees into one box in late September. There were often frames of stores left over and he just stored these to give back to the bees later.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Hoomin
You would need two visits but if you take an extra floor and crown board roof etc you can take the bottom box and move it to one side very close to the original site
Now put the top box with the honey and some brood on the original floor all the flying bees will end up in here
(Don't do it the other way round you need the flying bees with the honey)
Do this in mid afternoon
Return at night and close up both boxes
Move them to your home apiary
The following morning reassemble the hive in to it's original double brood box form
You are probably going to have some bees just hanging on to the box and might have to have your veil on the passenger seat :)
There is a risk of the brood being chilled so try and keep the boxes separate for as little time as possible

[Hoomin_erra]

Gavin my issue is that my blasted extractor is just too small to be able to fit brood frames in. :( Unless i scrape all the honey off with the comb, and then press.

DR, interesting idea, i might have to give that a go.

Well i've scratched the capped honey now, and i'll see what they have done by this weekend. Then i'll make a decision as to what i'll do.

[Jon]

I have a load of honey on deeps this year as well and will have to borrow an extractor.

Another possibility would be to put a couple of insulated dummy frames at the edges of each box and overwinter the colony as 7 frames over 7 or 8 over 8.
I think I will try this with a couple of mine which are very strong at the moment.

[Mellifera Crofter]

... how do i get them to take the honey up, ...


... Well i've scratched the capped honey now, and i'll see what they have done by this weekend. Then i'll make a decision as to what i'll do.

I don't understand - what do you want the bees to do with the honey? Where should they move it to? It's in the top box, and that's the best place for winter food.
Kitta

[Hoomin_erra]

I'd like them to take it up to the super. ;)

[Mellifera Crofter]

I'd like them to take it up to the super. ;)

They're not going to do that. Oh, no. Leave them for the bees as winter food.
Kitta

[The Drone Ranger]

I'd like them to take it up to the super. ;)
Hi Hoomin
First of all I should say I agree with Kitta best just leave well alone

You can take advantage of the fact that bees don't like honey below the brood nest
So what you can do is put the honey in that position then break the cappings
They will move it above the broodnest
It can only work if your super is already fully drawn combs no Queen Excluder

BUT
I think it could prove a very bad move at this time of year because the smell of honey can start ferocious and unstoppable robbing
It is a method that is useful at other times of the year when it is less risky to scrape off cappings

[Adam]

A large colony may well need more stores than what you're used to so I would leave them as they are on double brood. You can then sort them out next spring. However if they are big now will they need 2 brood boxes next year in any case?