Brood chamber
As a brood chamber of the designated beekeepers the area of a prey (habitation of bees ), in which on the honeycomb , the brood rearing carried out.
The brood nest is located on the honeycomb of the brood chamber . Its expansion is subject to seasonal and developmental fluctuations and reaches its peak around the time of the summer solstice . The creation of the brood nest begins in spring in the center of the former winter residence in the immediate vicinity of the supplies. On the honeycomb around the brood, pollen (as a protein store ) and then a honey store are created in a wide wreath . Often the pollen stores can only be found next to and under the brood. In general, one can say that the brood nest, if the dwelling allows it, is always created in a spherical shape. The sphere has the smallest surface area of all bodies and the bees can heat their brood to the necessary constant brood nest temperature of 35 ° C ± 1 degree with the least amount of energy.
From the month of May, the brood space is no longer sufficient to store the large amount of honey that has been collected. When using modern magazine hives , another frame is placed over the brood chamber , the so-called honey chamber . In today's old-fashioned rear treatment hives , another room above the brood chamber is released as a honey room and equipped with honeycombs.
A barrier is often placed between the brood chamber and the honey chamber (the upper area of the hive) . This has a mesh size that allows normal bees to slip through, but prevents the larger queen from entering. The advantage is that the queen cannot lay her eggs in the honeycomb, so that no bee larvae or eggs get into the honey when it is hurled. In some cases, the bee colony does not accept the honey room, which is separated by the barriers, or only poorly, and large amounts of honey are not stored in the honey room as desired, but in the brood room.
Depending on the strength of the bee colony, bee breed , climatic conditions and type of hive ( frame size ), the brood chamber is expanded by a frame before the honey chamber is set up. The bees store larger amounts of honey, as they are always produced during a forage over the brood. The warmth rising from the brood nest is used to evaporate the initially high proportion of water in the honey.