cut down split questions

[Zoot]

MB,

Regarding your edifying monologue on this topic: is requeening the old hive still beneficial to maximizing production (in the old hive) or is allowing the bees to requeen the whole point?

Also, you note that the old hive will be left with less brood boxes and more supers; when practicing ULBN aren't all of your boxes essentially brood nests/supers?

[Michael Bush]

>Regarding your edifying monologue on this topic: is requeening the old hive still beneficial to maximizing production (in the old hive) or is allowing the bees to requeen the whole point?

No.  Requeening is just a side benefit.  You can just buy queens and not let either of them raise queens if you like.  But a strong hive with not other open brood to care for will usually raise a very good queen.

>Also, you note that the old hive will be left with less brood boxes and more supers

Hence the term "Cut down".  That is the primary reason for doing it.

> when practicing ULBN aren't all of your boxes essentially brood nests/supers?

If you do a cut down like I described there is no queen at the time of the cutdown. The bees are crowded up into the supers because there are less boxes, so they immediately began building comb and storing honey.  There won't be any brood for another 24 days or so while they rear a queen and she gets mated and by then the flow will be heavy.  Will the brood nest eventually expand again?  Sure.  But by then there will be a lot of honey put away.