Hobbies And Interests
Amount of Comb
Most beekeepers use a standard apparatus for broods within their set of hive equipment. This is known as a Langstroth deep-hive body. Normally, beekeepers use 10 frames within the box which provides a total of 2,700 square inches of comb. The combs are rarely fully occupied, but are often up to 95% occupied. Each frame contains combs on either side, so in order to actually measure the total occupied brooding space, each frame must be examined from both the front and back.
Calculating Brood Size
In order to more accurately calculate the size of the brood, observe how occupied brood comb is distributed in the hive. Generally, the queen lays eggs into individual cells from the center out in a circular patter. Thus, if any portion of the comb is unoccupied, it is likely around the edges. Find the lowermost occupied portion of comb and measure or estimate this length. Also estimate or measure the height of occupied combs. This will allow you to estimate the size of your brood while correcting for segments of unoccupied comb. Once you have the height and length, multiply these two numbers to get the total area of occupied comb in square inches. The total number of worker-sized brood cells per square inch of comb is approximately 23.6. Multiplying 23.6 by the area that was just calculated will give you a fairly good estimate of the number of occupied brood cells in each comb.
Brood Requirements for Certification
A Grade A Orchard colony must have at least 600 square inches of comb occupied by brood, and a Grade A Field colony must have at least 1000. In other words, a Grade A Orchard colony should have four frames, both front and back, relatively well-filled with brood; a Grade A Field colony should have at least six such-filled frames. These are good estimates for determining the overall strength of your colony, as well as for predicting the overall size of the future honey crop from that hive.