HI
I AM LOCATED ON GOLD COAST AUSTRALIA. i HAVE ONE DEEP BROOD BOX BELOW A FLOW SUPER. THEY ARE PRODUCING LOTS OF HONEY. I AM CONCERNED THE ONE BROOD BOX IS OVER POPULATED-I THINK THEY MIGHT BE BUILDING SWARM CELLS-SORT OF EXTENDED KNOBBLY THINGS AT THE BOTTOM OF SOME FRAMES.
I HAVE A NEW FLOW BROOD BOX WITH 8 FRAMES-NEVER USED BEFORE. WHERE SHOULD I PUT THIS ABOVE OR BELOW EXISTING BROOD BOX AND SHOULD I MOVE SOME OF THE FRAMES INTO THE NEW BOX AND MIX IT UP A BIT?
APOLOGIES FOR MY IGNORANCE AND THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE
JUDE
Jude,
There are two thoughts on this ! Check out Dawns add extra super beneath … Her reasoning is very sound n works ! It is a bit more work but seems to work. So far I just pop a second on top of the lower brood box. This next Spring I’m still thinking of trying Dawns method with adding a super under. Heck ! What do I have to loose ?! I tried waxed plastic n wire reinforce foundation this year on all my new hives. It was a total toss-up, even Steven results for my brood box n first deep super.
I’d say do what even is easiest n best for you … Either won’t mess your bees up. But I
agree … Best do it quick before your bees make a decision for you !
Good luck. Each day is a learning experience !
Gerald. 
P.S. Today I’m removing lower entrance reducers n opening up access. See how that goes this winter up here in the States. It’s always a interesting learning curve.
Not sure why you’re yelling Jude but if you go to the search function (magnifying glass icon) and type ‘adding brood box’ you will find much information that should answer your question.
1 Like
perhaps the caps lock button on the keyboard is broken…
@Jude_Kerrigan you have another swarm control option if you don’t necessarily want to add a second brood box: you could make a small split from your hive and establish another bee hive. If you have queen cells on the bottom of your frames now is a good time to do that. You can remove three frames- at least one with capped brood and a queen cell - all covered in bees- and put these in the middle of a five frame nucleus box along with two frames of fresh foundation on the outer sides. You can also shake another frame worth of bees onto the nucleus. If you can see your queen you can leave her in the main hive- if you don’t see her she might end up in the split- in either case the bees without a queen should be able to make one in 16 days or so- even faster if there are already queen cells (as you seem to have). I am only new to beekeeping but did that earlier this spring and it worked well- the mother hive did not swarm and recovered well from the loss of bees and frames (we harvested 14 kg’s yesterday!) - and the split is now building up nicely at a new location.
1 Like
Thank you all so much. I will proceed tomorrow-weather permitting-and I will double check whether swarm or drone cells-just reviewed photos and think I am being alarmist and it may be drone cells that are causing me concern. Regardless the 1 x brood box is bursting at the seams , so I will add another one asap.
Apologies to all for ‘shouting’!
Very grateful for your assistance
Jude
P.S. I will post again when I open up the box what I find and what I decide to do.