Hive Expansion
Lexikon
Expanding means giving a growing colony more space, by hanging in frames or wax foundation, or by adding a whole hive box at once.
Expanding means giving a growing colony more space, by hanging in frames or wax foundation, or by adding a whole hive box at once. The Fachzentrum Bienen names four goals: enlarging the brood chamber, lowering swarming tendency, freeing up the honey super, and encouraging comb building. The basic principle is that the space grows along with the colony's strength.
How can you tell it is time? By densely occupied combs, a beard of bees in front of the hive entrance, a cluster of bees hanging beneath the frames, and natural comb building in cavities. Lack of space arises not only from large numbers of bees, though, but also from a strong nectar flow: when honey is stored right into the brood nest, this is called honey-binding the brood chamber, and it too is a signal. As a rough guide tied to the course of the vegetation, the Fachzentrum names cherry blossom for expanding the brood chamber and the start of rapeseed bloom for adding the honey super.
The most common mistake is thinking that expanding alone prevents swarming. It reduces the pressure, nothing more. Early expansion prevents lack of space, lets the queen lay without interruption, and lets the nurse bees use up their brood food, which lowers the tendency to build swarm cells. But once a second brood chamber and a honey super have already been given, this lever is used up. After that, the only thing that helps is shrinking the colony, for example by forming a nucleus colony. Anyone who removes a frame for forming a young colony as early as April noticeably dampens the steep spring buildup.
Conversely: expanding too early and too generously can also cause harm. If the brood nest is still small, it is better to wait, so that a cold snap does not chill the brood. Expanding is therefore a decision made by looking at the colony, not by the calendar date.