Brood frames need managing to keep the bees healthy and reduce the chances for disease.
One of the goals has always been to manage the horizontal hive so that all excess honey stores go into the flow frame and the only honey not in the flow frames is in the honey arch in the corners of the brood frames.
If only honey and no pollen or brood are being stored in the outer frames against the Qx then they should be removed and the hive collapsed to encourage storage in the flow frames.
If a full brood pattern and or pollen is being stored in the outer frames then new frames should be added to allow the colony to expand.
Being able to move the flow frames as brood frames are added and removed is an important design consideration to achieve the maximum utilisation of the flow frames and provide the greatest management flexibility.
New brood frames will always be placed toward the outsides against the Qx and then rotated toward the centre over time as part of the hive management process.
The old centre frames are removed and placed between the Qx and Flow Frame either side to allow bees to hatch, without the Queen being able to lay any new eggs in the old frame. The now depleted frame is then removed from service and the old wax removed and the frame recycled.
