Just read Tom Seeley's ABJ piece on 'Darwininan Beekeeping'.  Interesting
read.  Seeley advocates for a smaller brood chamber - 1 deep - and I
suspect that relates to his work on the preference of swarms for a 40 liter
sized cavity.  I live in the mid Atlantic where we have an early intense
honey flow and after switching from 1.5 to double brood chambers 10 years
ago my honey yields have dropped.  I think a lot of honey stays in the
upper brood chamber so I have switched back to single brood chambers.  This
season will tell the tale.

A single is a challenge for swarm management and can be a real challenge
during nectar droughts as they are prone to dwindle and starve even in the
summer.  I intend to pull division board feeders at the start of the flow
and insert 2 frames of foundation as a 'pressure relief' (against Seeley's
recommendations).  Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations for
this strategy?

I am keeping bees to make money, by-the-way, for you Darwinians......

Bill Lord
Louisburg, NC

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