Single Story Colonies for Honey Production

Comments · 167

• AH

  @AhmedCharfeddine · 1 year ago

  I have two remarks.<br>I am in North Africa, and most hives are single deeps.<br>1. Putting the excluder at wrong time causes swarming.<br>2. Adding the super to let the hive expand but using drawn comb only is also dangerous as it can cause swarming.<br><br>The queen in fact &quot;does not like&quot; used frames. It wants new frames. If you put drawn comb, the workers are quicker than the queen. If you use foundation, the queen is quicker and is able to lay before even the bees are able to finish it while in other situation whenever the queen tries to look for empty cell, it finds almost evry cell with some drops of honey &nbsp;or pollen.<br><br>So putting drawn comb is similar to having blocked growth, and having constrained the queen. That leads to swarming. <br>In addition, it also thought that yound workers want to draw comb. So if you do not give it foundation, it is kind of jobless, so it swarms.<br><br>Evry beekeeper, depending on the region, needs to allow his hive to expand (expansion = foundation frames) but the moment the bees shift to honey (new foundation are drawn very slowly), then we can shift to inserting drawn comb and evenb remove unfinished frames and put the excluder.<br><br>In my region many do not use the excluder. If you put frames in the super, the bees will enlarge them and put only honey there, most often.<br>When we use excluder, we just insert it for merely few days, then we remove it. Those few days are enough for bees to go to evry cell and start putting honey. Of course, no cell might be full with honey but the goal is achieved, the queen if she ever wants to go up she can&apos;t find where to lay, so she goes back. By doing so, the bees are not hampered by the excluder and they can move in/up very fast.<br><br>We also use some other techniques but they only apply to our harsh environment.

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• BK

  @BKPR-78 · 3 years ago

  Been running singles for about 6 years now. They are definitely more demanding, if they aren’t hungry they are plugging out. That being said, I’d never go back to doubles. <br>I’ve found they absolutely will swarm after the flow starts. This year I even moved 4 empty frames in the middle of the brood box at the beginning of our flow and they still managed to fill them with nectar and build swarm cells. In my experience an empty above an excluder before the flow starts works best in our area, with way less work. I’ve also had years when I allowed her to run up into the super and lay, then shake down and put excluders in. The result was two heavy filled frames on the outsides of both the super and brood chamber. Putting the excluder in at this point essentially reduced the open area to lay to 6 frames. Instant swarm impulse.

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• JU

  @Justdoingstuff83 · 8 months ago (edited)

  The benefit i see of double deeps thru winter is this;<br>When spring comes I need those drawn combs with the extra honey and pollen to make splits. <br>Sure I could wait a few weeks/feed them/both.... but I believe having empty brood combs with honey/honey/pollen/Frames makes it easier for what I want.<br>Once I make my splits I made 4 frame nucs so if they do well I can just pop on a honey super and move on I dont have to worry too much, itll just turn into a 2 colony hive, like a keepers hive but no frills.

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• AI

  @aidanquick3151 · 3 years ago

  Great video, I&apos;ve definitely seen better results from double brood boxes that we turn into singles when the flow starts. Mega colonies!

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• MI

  @mikerevendale4810 · 1 year ago

  That&apos;s a great presentation! My hive management has changed greatly during my 40 years of beekeeping, thanks largely to such presentations. <br> Doubles with upper ventilation used to be the standard; and when spring arrived the bottom box was almost always empty.<br> Today I overwinter insulated, ten frame, single deeps without upper ventilation. That change resulted in lower winter losses, much less honey consumption, and epic brood nest expansion in late winter/early spring. <br>I&apos;ll definitely be sharing this video. Thanks!

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• BR

  @BrownAndDaughters · 3 years ago

  You know, I ended up doing this on my own by accident this year. It just seemed like a good idea....I had no idea this was an actual method. I&apos;m so happy to have an organized and simple outline to better guide me. Thank you!

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• DA

  @davidlewis4179 · 3 years ago

  I was expecting to see Bob not Frank from Wilkes-Barre! With Mann Lake being less than 5 minutes off I-81 I&apos;ve stopped there every time I go to see our grandkids south of Harrisburg since becoming a beekeeper. Frank talking bees has been one of the highlights of my (4 years) beekeeping career.

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• MR

  @MrBeachbums5 · 3 years ago

  Great information! &nbsp;Thank you so much for sharing!

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• DA

  @dadu63 · 3 years ago

  This is exactly what I been doing for several years. Thanks for sharing Bobby boy!

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• OK

  @OklahomaBeekeeper · 3 years ago

  Great video, I run two different configurations as the 40 mile range I have hives are so different here in Oklahoma. I&apos;m half in the edge what we call green country and westward to aired dryer area. I run singles in the east and single and a medium out west. <br> I enjoy seeing videos on both singles and single plus medium configurations. <br> I enjoyed your friend who runs singles with a medium and this one on singles. I don&apos;t think people know much about the other options. <br> Thanks again, Bob Binnie.

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• DA

  @danno1800 · 7 months ago

  That was GREAT! Thank you very much…

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• DA

  @davidhorsley4657 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Based on Bob&apos;s recommendation a month or so ago, I&apos;ve been feeding 1:1.4 syrup this fall. We&apos;ll see how they do in spring 2023. Amarillo TX.