Charles Hatton wrote: >Is it O.K. to weekly, biweekly, or monthly to remove each frame from the brood >chambers to examine them? Is it O.K. to rearrange the order of the frames on a >regular basis in the brood chambers? I agree with David Green that it is a very good way to demoralize the bees. However if queen excluders are part of your hive management, it is important to check the brood box on a regular basis - monthly or every 2 months at least. The reason is that the bees will fill the cells around the brood with honey and unless the quantity of fresh nectar coming in forces the house bees up through the queen excluder to find room for curing the hive may become restricted to the bottom box. The queen therefore has no room to lay and the population of the hive takes a dive. We check at least a month and include foundation or freshly drawn brood frames in the bottom box (outside of the brood) to keep the queen laying and the population expanding for the next honey flow. Frames mostly honey can be moved above the excluder where the bees will finish them off. Moving the order of the frames around or turning them about in the hive is definitely not recommended. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam<[log in to unmask] http://kigateway.eastend.com.au/hogbay/hogbay1.htm