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. So apparently, somehow, the queen can and does "move down". If not, there would be lots of easy-to-find queens in spring, as they would all be invariably found in the uppermost box. This would make spring requeening a snap, even for novices. Also, it should be clear that a classical feral hive in the standard-issue tree cavity would never be "reversed", and has a clear and unambiguous "top" beyond which additional comb cannot be built. What would the queen do then? I can't say that an observation hive would be a fair testbed for such a subject, but anyone can look at the locations of eggs, sealed brood, open brood, and such in their own hives, and note the time delay between each cluster of eggs laid in each frame of each box. I'm going to bother to harass a few hives with the more intense "inspections" required to answer this question, but I'd like to see a few other beekeepers do the same, so that we can compare notes. With enough independent contributions, one can reach a consensus about common fact, rather than having only one or two views in conflict. Anyone in? And yeah, sure this is "publishable science" that everyone can put their names on. One does not need a PhD to look at brood chambers and estimate "equivalent frames" of empty, laid egg, open brood, sealed brood, and hatching brood. Interested parties can send me an e-mail. jim (Aut agere aut mori!) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::