> >i don't understand the need to fill up the space left as a result
> >of putting in 9 frames instead of 10 by using a follower board.  if
> >the concern is burr comb to the sides of the hive caused by the
> >extra space, then why not use 10 frames to fill up the space?
> >you'd get more honey, less burr comb and more brood.  Correct?
> >
> >i never did understand the 9 vs 10 frame principal..   can someone
> >convince me why it is better?
>
> I for one will certainly not try to convince you. In fact I fail to
> understand why we want less brood space, as that's what you get when
> you go from 10 to 9 frames. The bees don't keep less stores in the
> outer frames just because the keeper wants to make it easier for
> himself. For this very reason our hive (D.E.) has 11 frames. More
> frames, more brood----- more brood, more honey.
 
Well, yes and no.
 
More brood may mean more bees, but if the timing is wrong, it means
more honey, all right -- more honey eaten, not produced.  Managing
brood production timing and amount is part of getting a crop in many
areas.
 
We keep bees in singles, doubles, 10 frame, 9 frame, and sometimes
(accidently when a swarm gets housed in a 8 frame, metal spaced
super), eight.
 
9 or 10 frame spacing in brood chambers seem to make *no* difference
to the bees we use.  8 frame spacing doesn't work very well,
especially for wintering.
 
I used to run jumbos and also had an outfit with 12 frames to the
brood box.  Jumbos on 10 frame spacing are the best brood combs ever
devised IMHO.  Queens love them. Just hard to handle.
 
More than 9 or 10 frames to a single brood chamber are seldom used by
a queen in my experience.  In a double brood box system, they are
sometimes disadvantageous.
 
Follower boards make sense in a brood box particularly if you use
two standard broods and an excluder, because if the bees store too
much honey below the screen early in the season, they may not go up
to the supers promptly.
 
We're thinking of follower boards in our broods this year, simply
because the one less frame required would save us $1.50 X 2 X 2600=
$7,800.00 in frame ownership and, in return cost us about $2,500,
depending on the price of getting them made.
 
There is also the time saved in pulling and replacing frames during
the inspection of 2,600 hives.  At one minute per hive 3 times a year
at $10 per hour, that comes to 2,600 X $10/60 X 3 = $1300.00 per year
in savings  Anyone have a good (cheap) design???
 
Speaking of odd gear, has anyone tried the 8 X 8 inch piece of 5 mesh
hardware cloth instead of an excluder?  Apparently when placed on the
centre of the top of the brood nest, it will keep the queen down most
of the time without impeding the bees.  I used to use 5 mesh harware
cloth (screen) for excluders on my Farrar hives (20 X 20 inch boxes).
 It works just fine, but I used them full size, not as described
here.
 
We've used slatted racks and they are a good idea, but in a
commercial outfit, they are just one more thing to fall off a truck
and get stepped on, broken, etc.
 
If I were a hobbyist, I think I'd try them  -- especially for comb
honey production.
 
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                         VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0
Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask]
Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>