I’m dealing with the same thing on a two deep hive so I can’t say that single deep brood boxes are the cause.
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Me three on splitting, but also consider a slatted rack. Goes under the bottom box, on top of the bottom board and provides extra hangout space for a busy hive where they can be more protected.
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All of my single deep configs. have the slatted rack.
That aside, I will not be impressed based on this years production but the experiment is incomplete until I’ve over-wintered them and let them go through a full season.
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Beekeeping is one long continuous learning curve. Whatever the bees do will be something you can learn from.
I never let something like “I really don’t have the room to do a split” stop me from doing a split. This is after many lessons learnt.
Do you have bee space or access to bee space up in the roof? To me that is a good indicator that a colony is getting ready to swarm, when I see clusters of bees up in the roof doing nothing. If the bees don’t have that access, it’d be a good idea to provide it. Then lift it once a week to monitor what’s going on.
My flat lids are handy because I put splits on top of them when I don’t have any vacant spots on stands.
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When you check your single brood box in the early spring for signs of swarming, do you shake the bees of each frame to inspect? If yes, what do you do with the frame that has the queen? Dont mean to hijack but thought i ask under this topic heading.
If there is that many bees on a frame of brood during spring that you can’t see the queen cells, it’s probably time to do a split regardless. It’s always best (in my view) to do a preemptive swarm control split in preference to waiting to find queen cells. A healthy frame of brood from a strong colony should have a good covering of bees on it during an inspection. Just one layer of bees, therefore the queen cells will be easy to spot. I’ll find a video I can share.
PS this video shows what I’m talking about. It also shows the buildup of bees in the migratory lid I’ve been talking about.
Since making this video, bees emerge, not hatch
Importantly, I no longer checkerboard fresh foundation to brood during winter or early spring. I keep the brood together in the middle, flanked by fresh foundation or drawn worker comb.
Separate independent question what is a slack rack, not understanding the term
This is what I sent you that link about -
It goes under your bottom box and on top of your bottom board, as a spacer that aligns with the frames to give extended surface area/space for bees to hang out on instead of having to go outside to beard.
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Interesting. Saw a slatted rack mentioned so often, but failed to find it in Australia so far.
Wouldn’t mind testing one.