I am wondering what is the best way to switch out old brood frames when they always seem in use. I hate to deprive the bees of the pollen and honey on the frames and they almost always seem to have some brood in them.
Thanks, Michelle
switching out old frames
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- Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:23 am
Re: switching out old frames
We date our frames and start cycling them out after they've been through a few seasons, usually in the spring before the population explodes. You're right, there's a bit of judgement involved. If a frame is full of brood we'll leave it in even if it's passed its "sell-by" date. We're not sentimental about pulling honey and pollen if it's really old. The dates help.
Curious to hear others' thoughts ...
Curious to hear others' thoughts ...
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- Posts: 12
- Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:58 am
Re: switching out old frames
I try to work a year ahead of myself. Comb that is getting due to be switched out is put in the bottom box during my spring manipulations. The following spring it is likely to be empty and can be replaced with new comb drawn out the year before and saved over the winter. Sometimes I will run a deep box or two as honey supers and those frames can be extracted or set aside for emergency feeding in the winter and spring, then used as replacements.
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Re: switching out old frames
This is how we mark our frames, this image shows all new frames for 2012. I prefer to burn the digits in vs using a marker that may have toxic fumes.
Re: switching out old frames
I've started moving to 3 deeps over the last couple of years.
First inspection, around mid March, the bottom deep is empty of brood with little honey / pollen left behind. These frames can be cycled out at that time with little or no disruption to the bees.
Experience thus far is limited, but it seems to be working. ... dons
First inspection, around mid March, the bottom deep is empty of brood with little honey / pollen left behind. These frames can be cycled out at that time with little or no disruption to the bees.
Experience thus far is limited, but it seems to be working. ... dons