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From:
Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Wed, 9 Apr 1997 07:08:26 -0700
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> Over the past several years I have been observing hives to see if the
> queens would go back down after filling the top brood chamber.  I have
> found that about 8 of 10 will.  Those that don't I reverse the chambers.
> Most how to books state that the chambers must be switched or else the
> bottom will become unused.
 
Some package beekeepers (and others) nail the bottom board onto the bottom
box.  They never reverse, and some of them get huge crops every year.
 
There are many factors in when and if the queen goes down, including space
above the brood nest, frame size, time of year, entrance sizes and
locations, bee stock, condition of queen (age and number of legs :), use
of excluders or not, amount of granulated honey in combs, age and
condition of combs, amount of ladder comb and bee space between supers,
thickness and style of top bars, locale, etc., etc.  Queens also prefer to
stick to comb that is reasonably 'fresh'.
 
> One or two books I have read are absolutely against this practice as
> being to disruptive.  I tend to agree with this.
 
Reversing is *intentionally* disruptive, and should only be used when a
disruption of this sort is beneficial -- as in the cases you mentioned.
FWIW, we always (almost) add a second brood chamber to package hives
*under* the first, then maybe reverse later if conditions merit.
 
We prefer to feed heavily to drive the queen down, and we do not scrape
the wax bumps (ladder comb) on top of brood frames unless they get very
bad.
 
BTW, It is amazing how many people have a 1/2 inch (rather than 3/16 to
3/8) between the upper and lower brood chamber frames and do not know it.
Queens do not always want to cross this barrier.
 
FWIW, I compare opening a hive and manipulating to open heart surgery.  It
can do a lot of good if done under the correct conditions and for the
right reasons by a knowledgeable person, but is not something to do
casually.
 
> 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.
 
That's the idea, actually, and in doing so the bees uncover pollen, remove
old honey, and theoretically increse the brood nest size.  With some types
of bees, this is not generally necessary.  Another benefit is that the
bottoms of the borrom frames get freshened and stay attractive.
 
> 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.
 
Sounds like a good plan, especially since you raise your own stock.  Any
queen that does not keep up with the others is a candidate for
replacement.  The 20% figure sounds about right.  In any given apiary 20%
of the queens need replacing at any given time.  The problem is
normally guessing which ones.
 
There is a rule that 20% of a project gives 80% of the profit and that 20%
of an enterprise causes 80% of the trouble and expense.
 
Management is to a great extent the art of knowing which is which and
eliminating as much as possible the troublesome 20% -- to the extent that
it does not overlap with the profitable 20%.
 
Allen

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