Reversing Hive Bodies
Reversing hive bodies is a common Spring practice among beekeepers. The goal is to give the honey bees easier access to empty comb. Swapping positions of hive boxes or brood boxes encourages the colony to expand within the hive. In this article, I will share the benefits of reversing hive bodies and if it is something that every beekeeper should consider
Like many hive management practices, your hive configuration, beekeeping style and colony status plays a role in whether or not you need to reverse brood boxes. Personally, I never do but that doesn’t mean it can not be an effective measure for your hives.
What is Reversing Hive Bodies?
Reversing hive bodies is a beekeeping strategy where the two main brood boxes swap positions. In a Langstroth hive, it is common for beekeepers to use 2 deep supers (hive bodies) to house the colony.
Here, they live as a family, rear young and store food for themselves. Typically, hives go into Winter with the bottom brood box full of bees and the top full of stored honey and bee bread (stored pollen).
Over the next few months, it is not uncommon for the bee cluster to move up into the top box. They are following the food stores.
(Which is one reason to make sure any queen excluder is removed before Winter – else she may be left behind.)
This can lead to congestion in the upper box – leaving the queen with little room to lay. Also, the bottom hive body may be left with just empty comb.
To reverse, the top box filled with bees and bee brood is moved to the bottom position (on top of the bottom board). And, the emptier brood box is set on top of it – giving the colony easy access to open comb.
How to Reverse Hive Bodies Safely
This type of hive manipulation is most often performed in early Spring, but it can be done throughout the warm season. With that in mind, temperatures play a role – try to wait until most of the cold weather is over.
1. Remove the outer cover and the inner cover. You may need to use your hive tool to loosen the wooden parts. Confirm that the brood nest is located in the top box. Do not divide the brood nest during cold weather.
Unless the colony has a massive population, all brood frames need to be in one of the hive bodies so the bees can keep them warm.
2. Set the top box with queen and brood to the side and confirm that the bottom box is not in use.
3. Remove the empty box from the bottom board. (The “empty box” is actually a completed box with frames and drawn comb). There is no brood and little to no food stored in the frames.
4. Carefully set the box with the queen and brood nest on the bottom board. It is now the bottom of your stack.
5. Set the empty box on top of the box with the queen. Replace the inner cover and top.
Now, the heart of the colony is located in the bottom of the stack and has ample room to expand upwards.
6. If weather permits, inspect your beehive in a week or so. If the bees are still not using the top box. Exchange 1 frame between them the two boxes to encourage the bees to expand.
Other Box Sizes
The process of rotating hive bodies is the same regardless of box size. Empty boxes with dry comb are moved to the top. Boxes with bees and brood go to the bottom of the stack.
Standard hive configurations vary greatly due to beekeeper preference and climate. You may have a hive with all mediums. You can rotate those boxes just like deeps (careful not to split the brood).
For beekeepers that use 1 hive body and only 1 shallow for Winter. Reversing your brood boxes may not be necessary.
I’ve never had a problem with the bees moving back down to the bottom box from a shallow into my deeps. That is why I don’t bother with reversing hive bodies.
Benefits of Reversing Brood Boxes
Why bother to manipulate your beehives in this manner? There are several reasons that beekeepers invest time and energy into this task. Among the top:
- more room for colony growth
- relieves brood nest congestion
Make Room for Colony Growth
With all of the bees living in the top, you may have an empty box of dry comb on the bottom-that is not being used. The queen can move back down into the lower boxes to expand the brood nest.
However, queen bees typically prefer moving up more than down. If they are slow to move down, this may put a damper on colony growth. Empty comb cells on top encourage expansion.
Relieve Congestion
If the top box becomes too crowded. You have congestion due to too many bees on the comb or lack of space for the queen to fulfil her role as egg layer.
The colony may start swarming preparations thinking they need more space-in another location. And even if that does not happen, population growth is limited for a time.
Risks
Every beekeeper, every hive and every location is different. But, here are some important tips to keep in mind if you are considering rotating your hive bodies.
- chilled brood
- starvation
- killing the queen
Take care when switching brood boxes that you have all the brood in one box. If cold temperatures are still likely, the bee populations may not be large enough to keep all the brood warm – especially with the frames spread out through 2 boxes.
Be sure to leave some frames with honey in the box with brood frames. The bee cluster will not move around a lot in cold temperatures. They must have direct access to food.
But, maybe you are feeding them? Make sure they don’t have to travel all the way through the empty box to reach a bee feeder on top. Perhaps a bit of emergency sugar cakes could be of benefit – directly on the top bars of the box with bees?
Anytime we manipulate hive boxes, there is a risk of accidently damaging your queen bee. Done at a time of year when requeening the hive is not possible – this could be a disaster. Be careful.
Expert Tips
- match the number of boxes to colony population
- may be a good time to rotate old brood frames out of the hive
- this is not something you have to do
Consider how many bees are in your late Winter hive and how many boxes are on the hive. If the colony population has dropped very low, you might consider removing a box -especially one that is not being used.
If the weather is warm enough, this is a good time to check some frames. Old brood frames should be rotated out after several years. Very dark black honeycomb does not promote good colony health.
Alternatives Techniques
Even with double deeps, you do not have to reverse the hive bodies. Another option is to manipulate frames. Instead of changing the position of a box of 10 frames (or 8), switch out a few frames.
If you have 6 frames with brood and bees in the top, move 3 to the middle of the bottom deep and leave 3 in the middle of the top box. Be sure to place frames of honey nearby.
In a few weeks, you should inspect the hive and make adjustments. In this method, the colony has room to expand but the brood is kept in one central location.
FAQs
The beekeeper can reverse hive boxes as long as all the brood is in one box. Keep seasonality in mind too, you want honey on top for Winter.
Depending on your climate, April – May are the best months to reverse brood chambers on a hive. Wait until most of the cold weather is over.
Some beekeepers use Spring as the optimal time to rotate hive boxes. If a colony has two boxes and all of the brood is in the top – switch it with the bottom one.
It is not recommended to reverse hive boxes in cold weather.
A Final Word
As with any apiary task, the beekeeper must decide when and if to act. But, when done properly reversing your hives boxes can be a useful tool to reduce swarming and promote colony growth. However, not everyone will have the hive set up to benefit from this practice.
