> I will also say from experience that a properly prepared single hive
> (8 frames brood & bees)will never produce the honey of a properly
> prepared double (16 frames of brood & bees).

I can't say that I have been able to prove that, and I've tried, so maybe it
all depends on where you are, and other factors.

It also occurs to me that, perhaps, we are talking about different things:
I'm assuming that using either 1.) a single or 2.) a double brood chamber,
with an excluder on top, and that we are not pulling honey out of the brood
chambers.

Moreover, beekeepers often talk about 'frames of brood', and then switch and
immediately talk about 'frames with brood' interchangably, and it gets very
confusing.  Sometimes, I wonder if it is done on purpose, but hopefully we
can agree on terms here.

When measuring brood, I assume a frame *of* brood is about 90% brood, and
contains (very roughly) 6,000 cells of brood.  I also reckon an average
frame *with* brood, often called ' a nice frame of brood', actually has
about half that, if you actually measure and calculate the area.  The
problem is that a 1/2" strip with no brood around the edge doesn't look like
much, but it reduces the amount of brood by 20%, and an inch of feed or
empty cells around the perimeter reduces the actual brood by 35% -- from
that 90%, and the brood is usually in an oval shape not square, further
reducing our estimate.  So, I'm wondering...

16 frames of brood, if that is what you really mean, and not 16 frames with
some brood or 16 frames with bees and some brood, would be something like
96,000 cells of brood, and would seem to imply a queen laying 4,500 eggs a
day non-stop, or two queens at 2,250 each.  16 *average* frames *with* brood
would be the product of a pretty good queen, laying 2,250 eggs a day
continuously over three weeks, and, according to a number of authors, that
is a pretty good queen..

In my experience, about 9 to 12 frames fairly full of brood -- ranging from
pretty full in the centre, to a decent patch on the outside frames, is
normal at the peak of the season where I live.  I seldom see 16, although I
may see 16 with some brood on them.

In my experience, also, singles are able to get much bigger than 8 frames,
if properly managed, so, again, maybe we don't mean the same thing.  I'm
talking about a single brood, but with an excluder and a second box or more
added as needed, and 10 good frames in the bottom box.  In a setup like
that, the brood can easily be wall to wall, and the extra bees can fill the
second, plus many supers.  Some beekeepers do a little spreading of brood in
singles, if required, but in my experience, if the queen needs the space,
and there is adequate room for bees and feed in the seconds, the bees make
room for her in the brood box.  Sometimes there is not much except brood in
the single bottom brood box.  In my experience the frames of brood in a
single also tend to be noticably more completely covered with brood than
those in doubles.

> And a  properly prepared two queen ( 32 frames of brood & bees)will
> out produce the best double.

As for two queen hives, I just figure that they are really just two hives,
stacked up, so of course they often make more honey than one hive, and they
look impressive, to boot.  However, in my experience, they seldom made twice
what one did, and they sure could eat.  Others report different results, but
I calls 'em the way I sees 'em.

Keeping two hives, one on top of the other, was a lot of work, so I made
some more floors, and went back to keeping each hive on one stand.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::