Reducing down to single brood box over winter ?

[Wildfire]

Hi
I got a nuc in June and the queen seemed turbo charged laying like mad and as I thought the were running out of room put a second brood box on which they seem to be busy with.I don't want to go into winter with a double brood box on as I'm worried about feeding and also keeping them warm .
Can you advise on inspection with a double brood as I saw the queen initially in the top brood box but on inspecting the lowere brood found a queen cell which I removed then couldn't find her again argh,am a bit worried and after feeling confidant now feel out of my depth please advise .Many thanks

[Patrick]

Hi Wildfire,

Several questions there so let’s take the last first.

Is there a queen? Can you find eggs? If so there was likely one laying at least 3 days ago and probably is still.

To do double box careful inspection, I put supers on roof, with a crownboard or solid cover on them and then the top brood box on that. I don’t want the small possibility of the queen if she is in that box wandering down into the supers below. Whilst I go through the top box I put a spare crownboard or cover on the open bottom box to keep them happy. I go through each box systematically like 2 singles and reassemble. Takes no real time to do. You may find the top box is already full of mainly stored nectar if she has not laid in it. There’s some of your winter feed right there!

Double brood is no problem for overwintering and is my preferred set up, as long as drawn combs. The cluster can go up into the second box by spring and you can usually remove the lower box early April if you want to go back to single. Also plenty of space to store winter feed. Ideal.

[Alfred]

Patrick this is my niggling question too.
Be it a second brood or super on top,if it's not fully populated or even drawn by autumn how do you make the call.
Do you dummy it down or combine it all into the lower box?

[Patrick]

Hi Alfred

We often talk of the June Gap and the possible need to feed after removing supers but after you take off the summer honey, colony brood box’s full of brood can be suddenly left without any stores then as well and with the nectar flow stopped they are stuffed. I often give them a gallon of syrup to tide them over and they may either use it to draw foundation, eat it, store it or turn into bees - all of which are fine by me. I then varroa treat and then give them the main autumn feed for winter.

Part filled top boxes are not an issue. If they are mainly drawn out just leave in place to be filled with syrup. If only part filled by the time you have fed, I would swap positions of the two brood boxes and put it below. It will be empty by the spring and can be put back on top then.

If however they are now still full of mainly foundation with neither brood nor stored honey in, just shake the bees off and put in the shed- the bees do not need It.

I don’t like brood and a half myself, but the same applies. I would not dummy down in a top box as the cluster moves up in the hive as the winter progresses and I would not want it “funnelled” by dummies.

Others may have different views however?

[AdamD]

I have large colonies on double brood through winter too. Bees naturally put stores above their heads so as the top brood box fills up they will move downwards. As they eat through their stores during winter they will move upwards to where it's warmer. A slab of insulation on top of the crown board or fitted inside a non-ventillated roof will reduce heat-loss significantly and reduce winter stores consumption. Nigel will tell you that polyhives help even more in this regard.

If a decent sized colony is on a double-brood, I see no reason why it should be reduced to single brood with perhaps a super for over-wintering. And if you have drawn brood comb or brood comb with stores in it, bees are pretty good at looking after it compared to us storing it in the shed.

For winter preparation, my view is that the colony should be well-supplied with food so you don't have to faff about in winter or spring with supplementary (emergency) feeding. Some colonies have a larger brood-nest in winter than others and consime more stores as a consequence (Italian, Ligustica, bees have this reputation) so having more stores rather than less is not a problem. In spring, the colony can remain in two boxes if desired. Any spare brood frames that are full can be taken away and used for nucs or whatever during the season if you want to drop down to one box.

With a double brood box, if you have old manky frames with stores in, if you place them on the outside of the lower box the stores will be moved/used first so the frames can be taken away in spring.