Lack of space in commercial brood box. What to do?

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Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
209
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Location
Dorset
Hive Type
Commercial
Number of Hives
9
The brood box is pretty heavy so not keen to put another brood box or super underneath. Would you recommend:

removing a frame and replacing with a frame of foundation or a frame with empty cells

Adding another super/brood box above or below?

I am mainly concerned about two of my colonies that are very big and strong. I was concerned about space with them so I used a super as an eke for the apiguard treatment. They both started to build comb in the space. I have removed that and have finished the treatment. I have an ashforth feeder on top (empty) and some ambrosia ready to feed if necessary.

I have only been through one of the hives recently as I prefer to leave them alone this late. It had brood near the bottom of the frames but above that was solid stores.

Thanks for reading this and for any advice.
 
Personally I would prefer a shallow of drawn frames under the brood box but if you really don't want to do that take out two frames of stores and put two frames of foundation in the middle of the brood nest
 
Can't see any harm in adding something underneath. Your colony will probably remain centred in the top box so they will not have to work any harder to keep the nadired one warm. Better to provide some space if needed. You can always take it away if required.
Cazza
 
Personally I would prefer a shallow of drawn frames under the brood box but if you really don't want to do that take out two frames of stores and put two frames of foundation in the middle of the brood nest.

I might add the two frames in the middle in the height of summer but not at this time of year. Too risky. Much better to follow your first action.
Cazza
 
I have a similar problem, but with 4 swarms I collected this year They are all on A national bb with a super on top. They are now packed and it's October next week! I am not sure what to do. 2 issues as I see it , if I leave them alone I will probably end up with brood in the super in spring and they are short of room right now. Seems a bit disruptive to swap the boxes at this time of year and a bit late to add another super on top. Any advice?
 
I might add the two frames in the middle in the height of summer but not at this time of year. Too risky. Much better to follow your first action.
Cazza

It's worked for me as late as mid October...provided the colony is strong which OP says it is.
 
It's worked for me as late as mid October...provided the colony is strong which OP says it is.

There still time certainly down this way. I added a frame in a nuc as it was one short and they drew it out in 2 days.

think I'm gonna have to add some new frames in the my hive as they there still working hard and short on space. Reluctant 2 add supers now.
 
some of my hives are completely full and the supers underneath.tiny patches of brood with no room left and the ivy has just started.i have added a super above and if they dont use it i will remove them next week.i am hoping they move stores up with the ivy flow and make some space in the brood box
 
Its not the end of the world if brood ends up in the super in spring. Just shake all the bees down and put in a queen excluder and leave the brood hatch out.
 
I run 14x12 but have the feeling one or two hives will be stuffed with stores so tomorrow I will be taking frames of stores out and either storing them or giving them to hives that need feeding however I need to get some thymolated syrup in them so will be more likely storing frames. It seems to be a common problem/blessing this year
 
The main problem with putting a shallow box UNDER a filled Commercial brood box is lifting the ruddy thing!
However, the simple answer is to "phone a friend" (or two).
With a couple of lifters, a third person can quickly slip the shallow in and sort out the entrance block (which tends to awkwardly stick to the bb). Many hands do make light work - and you can return the favour for your 'guest workers' … :)

"Bee buddies" are valuable assets - to each other.
 
The main problem with putting a shallow box UNDER a filled Commercial brood box is lifting the ruddy thing!

Even more so when yesterday I found that one colony with a shallow underneath had joined the bottom of all the frames in the bb with the frames in the shallow box underneath. I couldn't lift the box without also taking the shallow frames as well, I couldn't lift the bb frames out individually, the top bars were detaching themselves even though they are double nailed, and it was too heavy to twist as I lifted. I'm thinking of waiting until the Spring and then take a friend to help separate the boxes before lifting the top one off. The whole hive weighs about 46kg which equates to around 35lbs of stores with ivy only just coming out in nearby hedges.
 

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