Where to place extracted brood box.

[bjosephd]

I have two hives that are...

ROOF
BB (honey)
EXCLUDER
BB (brood)
FLOOR

I want to extract the deep honey boxes and return them to the hives without excluders and feed so they can over-winter on double brood.

Would you return the empty box to the top or the bottom?

BJD

 

[enrico]

Bottom

 

[Beefriendly]

Depends what you want your bees to do. If solid brood in BB then I'd put on top, give HM some more laying room. Maybe move any full of stores brood frames up there as well.

 

[enrico]

To be honest you don't need to over winter on double brood, why fill frames that won't be used with sugar. Also two brood box's is a lot of feed unecessarily. If you are going to add another box and it is empty then I would put it on the bottom. They will use it if they want to or you give so much food that they have to!
If they don't use it then it will just sit there all winter empty. If you put it on the top they will fill it with everything that is presently in the bottom box!
E

 

[Beefriendly]

If you put it on the top they will fill it with everything that is presently in the bottom box!
E

Maybe move any full of stores brood frames up there as well.

Common sense dictates a bit of frame swapping if you do it this way.

 

[bjosephd]

To be honest you don't need to over winter on double brood, why fill frames that won't be used with sugar. Also two brood box's is a lot of feed...
E

Yup... agreed.

However, I can't be sure where I will be or what I will be doing come mid-winter, or next spring.

At the risk of not being around to put fondant on them, or to give them additional space as they start to increase I want to buy myself some food and time.

I have a couple hives I won't be doing this with, but a couple strong ones I will.

Also I don't really have many hives... so the feed cost is not prohibitive.

 

[bjosephd]

Common sense dictates a bit of frame swapping if you do it this way.

Frame swapping as in stores up top, brood and empty comb down stairs?

Or an alternative shuffle?