James Fischer wrote:
> George said:
>
>
>>A queen likes to move UP.  When the queen has lots of
>>OPEN brood in the upper box and there is a lot of capped
>>brood in the lower box, switch boxes.
>>Forget any CALENDAR!
>
>
> Has anyone ever done a side-by-side comparison on this
> specific point?  My problem is that lots of people don't
> do all the reversing George advocates, and despite poking
> into many people's hives, I've NEVER seen a lowest brood
> chamber without at least some spring brood in any hive,
> anywhere.

I use to reverse every spring, but after reading several articles on not
reversing determined that there was not a great need to do so. The key
is a honey barrier at the top of the frames of brood. If it is not
there, she wants to keep going up. If it is, she will stay down and will
end up in the lower box by being crowded down.

This happens in fall, so why not spring? Especially when the books call
for you not to reverse in spring if the brood pattern has already gone
into the lower box as well as the upper. If you reverse then, you split
the brood and make it more difficult for the bees to keep it warm. So
she does move down in the spring.

The one thing that reversing does do, in cool climates, is allows you to
put the bees below a good store of honey, so they can eat their way up
into the upper box. There are always cool days to look forward to even
after the first warm days in April here in Maine. The frames of honey on
the sides can be moved into the upper box over the cluster in the lower
box after reversing. Since you generally are manipulating all the boxes
anyway, to clean up after winter, that is the only time I do any
reversing, but it is mainly a stores and feed issue.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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