I have kept a TBH for two years now- mine is sized
like three langstroth bodies placed side by side. (So
I can give them langstroth frames of brood or food if
needed.)

It has been my experience that queen excluders are not
neccesary in TBH's.  A bar or two full of honey,
placed where you wnt to end the brood nest has been
all I have found necessary to keep the brood where I
want it.  If anything, I have found it necessary to
place empty bars in the brood area to keep the bees
from crowding the queen into too small an area.

My bees keep the brood nest within a bar or two of the
"Front" of the hive on their own. When winter
approached I shifted the brood nest back a couple
frames, and placed a couple more frames full of honey
between the cluster and the front of the hive to
increase the amount of honey surrounding the cluster,
and to provide more barriers between them and the
drafts. I don't know if this was actually necessary.

Genetics does have something to do with a compact
brood nest- my TBH bes are mongrels descended from
Carniolan cross bees, Italians, and Buckfast.  They
are multicolored, with an odd cordovan showing up once
in a while. This hive may be due for ruqueening, but
so far they are surviving well, and since they build
good comb, and have wintered successfully for two
winters, I'll let this "Play" hive do its own thing
unless they get mean.
Ellen Anglin
In Michigan


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com