Do you put frames in a brood box?
As a new beekeeper choosing the initial setup of the hive can be intimidating. You must decide how many brood boxes you require and the sizes ( shallow, medium, or deep). Some use a combination of deep and medium. Thankfully, you can always purchase more boxes, and your colony grows. The bees usually don’t mind any configuration and usually use what is presented to them. Medium supers are usually 30% righter than deep brood chambers. Choosing a medium box as a honey super can save your joints and back. Deep ones are designed to give the queen ample room to lay eggs and raise brood. More brood leads to a higher production rate.
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Do you put frames in a brood box?
Bees build honeycombs within the frames on the brood box. They are slid into the box so that they hang from the sides. The frames with the brood are situated at the center, while those with food reserves are found on the edges. Many beekeepers use ten frames in the brood chamber, but if your bees stock fill the hive with propolis, you can use nine frames instead of 10. Others use 11 frames in a ten-frame deep, which gives an extra frame for the brood and makes the brood closer, keeping them warmer with less work. Being the hard workers we know, they will always build comb in the space provided to them. They usually have the hardware designed in mind. In an empty box without frames, they will build a rogue comb. In the end, you will end up with a box full of cross-comb attached to the roof of the hive. This is a real mess to fix. And how do you inspect your colony?
How long will it take for bees to fill the brood box?
Novice beekeepers will always be concerned about how the time it takes for bees to fill the brood box. The rate of brood production is a good indicator of the health of a colony. A strong bee colony will fill the brood chamber in 20 to 35 days. This depends on the time of the year, availability of food resources, prevailing weather conditions, and productivity of the queen. A brand-new package will take time to establish itself; it will also require supplemental feeding. It may take up to 2 months to fill the brood chamber. The larger the boxes, the more time will also require to fill them.
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When should l add a second brood box?
Adding a second brood box depends entirely on the beekeeper and management style. A second brood box will be unnecessary if you opt for single brood management. You will just need to add a queen excluder and a honey super. Beekeepers who prefer double hive brood management should add a second brood box as soon as the first one is 70%-80% full. This is especially when heavy nectar flow and ideal weather conditions. If you add a brood box earlier, the bees must start working on it rather than finishing with the first one. When using single brood management, you will require less time for inspections and more efficiency in treating diseases and mites. It is also easier to spot the queen in one brood chamber.
