Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: irekkin on April 30, 2009, 12:53:38 am

Title: what should a good brood nest look like
Post by: irekkin on April 30, 2009, 12:53:38 am

i've heard different discriptions of brood nests and i was wondering what an average to good brood nest should look like. i use a single deep as my primary brood box and about the best i've seen is five frames of brood. tia

Title: Re: what should a good brood nest look like
Post by: Brian D. Bray on April 30, 2009, 01:51:52 am

Quote from: irekkin on April 30, 2009, 12:53:38 am

i've heard different discriptions of brood nests and i was wondering what an average to good brood nest should look like. i use a single deep as my primary brood box and about the best i've seen is five frames of brood. tia

You just answered the question of why beekeepers often use 2 brood chambers.  More combs makes more bees.
Five frames, this time of year is okay, but 6-7 is better.  I've had up to 8 full, both sides, of brood in a 10 frame hive but usually you only get 6 plus one side of the next one, making seven full frames of brood. 

If you want a honey crop I would suggest going to 2 brood chambers per hive, more bees make more honey.

Now to answer your question:  A frame of brood should be 2/3 - 3/4 the way up the comb with brood in various stages.  There should then be about a 1 inch band of pollen and the remainder of the hive should be honey to the top bar of the frame.  The brood should be displayed in a nice arc side to side, like a shallow bell curve.