# Broodnest getting clogged



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I would do what you are doing. Put in some empty bars to open it up. Also keep an eye out for swarm cells


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## Scot Mc Pherson (Oct 12, 2001)

No, no swarm cells. What I am speculating is that the nest is developing similarly to the way ULBN's develop over time, a narrow chimney through the honey, but horizontal instead. The bees get born, and the population is higher than it needs to be so the bees clog up the brood nest with honey so the queen doesn't continue laying so ****ed many eggs. At least that's what I think happens in a ULBN, and I think that's what I am seeing here because all these combs were 100% brood cept for the top 1 inch of the combs, and now I think they are trying to slow down the queen.

There is an upcoming dearth where only spotty 2ndary crops will be found for the next 2 months. Right now is the palmetto crop, and the mangrove crop will be blooming in the next week, after that its summer dearth.

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Scot Mc Pherson
Foundationless Small Cell Top Bar Hives
BeeWiki: http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/beewiki/


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

My bees have forage year round, with the Eucalyptus flow almost year round. Honey clogged brood chambers is a big problem. That is why people in the south use single brood chambers, to chase the honey into the supers. My bees have almost no need for stores. The eucalyptus blooms all winter. They can fly about 360 days a year. I bet Florida is similar, depending on what forage they have.


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## Scot Mc Pherson (Oct 12, 2001)

It is, but we have a 2 month dearth july and august, then the flows are back on. Winter is when we have our most well known honey flow, citrus blossom (orange blossom).


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## Cinnamon (Feb 1, 2004)

Hi Scott,

what is a ULNB?

Cinnamon


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>what is a ULNB?

Acutally ULBN. Un Limited Brood Nest.


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Greetings,

I noticed the same behavior in my tbh toward seasons end last year. When the bees have shifted from their reproductive mode to the survival mode, they change how they organize the broodnest. Once they get it into an optimal condition, their foraging behavior, brood rearing, comb drawing etc. will be greatly reduced even though there is room in the tbh.

Nectar will be stored in the top of the broodnest in preference to the rear of the hive which earlier in the season. This restricts the queens laying. Reduces drone rearing. Brood is mostly reared in the small cell sized portions of the comb. At this time the bees will act much like bees that are preparing to swarm.

That's when a vertical hive begins to outproduce a horizontal one. That space above the broodnest can be managed by adding supers so the bees keep trying to fill it up and get into the optimum overwintering configuration.

No one has written about managing horizontally to achieve this same effect that's obtained so easy by adding supers in a vertical hive.

Some Thoughts
Dennis


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've tried to order Dartington's Long Deep hive book but have not found it. I assume that's what it's about is managment of a horizontal hive.


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## chemistbert (Mar 4, 2004)

There is a book and horizontal hives?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/longdeephive/books.html http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0905652118/qid=1086872957/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9052320-9873662?v=glance&s=books http://www.beesource.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000122.html


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