> I have been toying with the idea of putting the
> excluders on in early spring and relieving congestion by swapping
> out 2-4 brood frames with foundation, and putting the brood frames
> in a deep  box over top of the honey super.  I realize there are
> drawbacks, sudden cold snaps, splitting the brood nest, the fine
> line between providing an outlet for energy vs. sapping hive energy.
>   However, I will be rotating old brood frames out, and the honey
> super will be filled with honey only.   I am just curious if anyone
> else has any thoughts on this technique?
 
I've done it in thirds above excluders and double BCs with no
problem.  It does increase the brood nest size considerably, but at
the right time, should be okay. I'm more comfortable with two than
four.
 
One thing people do forget about foundation, is that it takes a lot more
bees to cover a frame of fndn than comb.  You can get a big 5 storey colony
into one BC and two Ross Rounds of foundation due to this effect.
 
Since foundation is going into the centre and a cluster must form on
it for it to be drawn, it will pull many bees that would be covering
outer combs of you use too much.
 
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/>