Do I need a Second Brood Box? EPPING, NSW, Australia

Hi there. Do I need a second brood box with my Flowhive? I have been told that the bees will swarm if I only use the one brood box as per the Flowhive setup.The Flowhive store does not appear to offer single brood boxes?

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If people in your local area are saying that it is needed then it is probably wise to listen to them. Different climates call for different things.

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If your local bee club says you need a second brood box, you should assume that you do. Your profile doesn’t show where in the world you are, but if you are in the US, your solution is simple, order one from the manufacturer of the Flow hive, who is US based:

Not too expensive, free shipping, and you will get it in a few weeks. :wink:

Dawn

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@glindsey311 it is not normally very hot in Croydon but the Flow Hives are 8 Frames and Nominally people in Langstroth have 10 frames so having another 8 Frame brood box does not seem unreasonable.

We normally don’t do double Brood in the UK but for the reasons I have stated above I’m going double brood as well

Yup same here, went with double brood, second box is identical to original from Beethinking.com

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They will still swarm. It’s what bees do to reproduce. You can control it to some extent but it means either splitting the hive or weakening it by removing brood to another. You need a second colony anyway :smile:

And a third, fourth, etc… :heart_eyes:

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As modern bees make larger brood nests then beekeepers often use 2 brood boxes…particularly if using British Nationals. The 8 frame langstroth will be fine for the first season if starting with a nuc…otherwise having a second brood box, if needed, is a good idea. It won’t stop swarming but may delay it…and you can use it for swarm control. Many beekeepers use 2 brood boxes for a mature colony. If adding a second brood box…it’s a big cold space above a small colony, if added too early, it will make it much harder for the bees to build up.

If you add that extra box too early you will really set your bees back. Some people add it underneath then the bees will use it when they need it and the nest warmth is not compromised.

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I’m new. What is a nuc ?

I live in Sydney Australia.

Hi…a nuc is a small colony of bees… Usually 5-6 frames but may be less. It should contain a queen and plenty of bees, some brood and some pollen/honey.
Some nucs are over wintered…that means they were made at the end of the previous summer…or they can be spring nucs…made in the late spring…so these ones take longer to get going.
A book on Beginner Beekeeping will help enormously to understand what people are posting about here on the forum.

A glossary might be a good idea if some techie is hanging about doing nothing :wink:

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You got a description above, but it may help you to know that it is actually short for “nucleus”

:wink:

The colony I’m checking in this pic is a nuc (nucleus) hive. I had a 41 out of 41 survival rate for this winter and now my shoulder really hurts from patting myself on the back lol.

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Yes, I was told the same and ordered one from Beethinking.com as mentioned in Dawn_SD’s post.

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How interesting. A stethoscope. As a nurse, I’ve got a few of these laying around. I’m guessing just get familiar w/ normal hive sounds and then check for baseline when one doesn’t want to open the hive. Further education appreciated. Thx, R

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If you aren’t sure, knock on the hive and listen to the pitch go up an octave or so.

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Oooh thanks for the link Dawn, need more - what was delivered is just not going to cut it. The Honeyflow shop did not list these so was wondering if I was going to have to make do with mismatched bits and pieces.

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Here in Virginia, we typically on the first year of installing a package only have one brood box. On the second year we normally add a second brood box.