>  The premise behind checkerboarding is that bees want to have a 
> continuous broodnest and honey storage areas.  They plug away at 
> any gaps in the nest continuity.
>
>    The bees will work extra hard to restore the nest continuity 
> leading to a faster build-up.


I wonder about this "checkerboarding" business. Personally, I would 
never break up the bees broodnest by inserting empty combs between 
combs of brood. I would think that any given colony would maintain a 
certain sized broodnest. Adding empty combs between combs of brood 
might increase the overall size of the brood nest, but when the brood 
hatches, the bees would go back to the size broodnest that they are 
able to manage. Why would adding combs lead to a faster buildup? 
would "checkerboarding" cause the queen to lay more eggs?

And, "checkerboarding" the honey supers which is what I've been lead 
to believe is what "checkerboarding" is all about...

Considering how much time it would take to "checkerboard" supers, why 
would you not just place an empty extracting super of comb above the 
broodnest. Would that not yield the same results, without the huge 
increase in workload for the beekeeper?
Mike

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