> When preparing doubles for almonds in late winter, the temptation is to > reverse the brood chambers of colonies that have moved into the upper > chamber, since the cluster would often quickly expand upward. But ever > since we discussed this subject previously, I've questioned whether that > was a good idea after all. IMO, reversing is more about getting excess feed down below where it will be uncapped and moved -- stimulating the colony and out of the way of brood rearing up top than anything else. Reversing can also force conservative bees to expand the nest. For the same reason, reversing can be hard on prolific bees since they are already putting out to the max. Reversing is an expert technique and can be a very quick fix in the hands of a keen observer, but harmful in the hands of beekeepers who can't read their bees, especially in climates where extremes can happen unexpectedly. *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm