On 9 Apr 97 at 8:38, Frank & Phronsie Humphrey wrote: Switching Brood
Chambers
> I realize that I'm about to start an argument but here goes.
<snip>
> bottom will become unused. One or two books I have read are absolutely
> against this practice as being to disruptive. I tend to agree with this.
> The queens that use both chambers on their own, tend to lay in a very large
> pattern and thus have a larger population. When reversing the brood
> chambers, the brood nest is broken in to two small nest and the bees have
> to reconstruct the oval shape nest each time.
>
> This year I am selecting my breeder queens from among those that do not
> require reversal. I plan to continue to try to eliminate the practice of
> reversal in my apiary
> because of the extra work involved and because it is so disruptive. Those
> queens that require reversal will be replaced.
I promise not to argue, discuss, yes, there is a difference!!
One point which is never mentioned, and I feel it is relevant, is the
removal of the crown of honey above the cluster caused by the reversal of
boxes.
Bear with me for a moment. A standard hive in early spring in two boxes
will have honey in a crown above the cluster. The golden rule states "the
queen will not go over honey to lay eggs". So, the boxes are reversed,
now placing the honey at the top of the lower box. Unless the bees
uncap, removing the honey barrier, the queen can't get through to lay up
the top box. A better manipulation would be to put a hive tool through the
cappings on reversal, now the bees will move it all out of the queens way.
I submit these are the bees we should be breeding from, as these do not
unnecessarily uncap stores without real need. This is not a problem of the
queen or bees, more a failure of the keeper to provide the correct
manipulation.
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The Bee Works, 9 Progress Drive Unit 2, Orillia,
Ontario, Canada. L3V 6H1
David Eyre, Owner. Phone/Fax 705 326 7171
Dealers for E.H.Thorne & B.J.Sherriff UK
http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks
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