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Bee space and Warm way - Cold way

Basic Assessment: Discuss the concept of bee space and its significance in the modern beehive.

Top and bottom space refers to the size of bee space between boxes. It is a measure of whether the bees have room to roam because of space under the frames above (bottom space) or above the frames below (top space).

A quick way of assessing whether a hive provides a top or bottom space is to measure the space between the top of the frames in the bottom box and the top edge of the bottom box wall. Circa 8 mm is Top space. Zero, and it is bottom space. Theoretically, it could be half bottom and half top space. Top space is preferable, as bees are less prone to propolise (stick) the frames in the lower box to those in the upper box.

Bees leave a space around and between combs. They are rigid about these distances as they create the optimal workspace that is easy to warm, ventilate and defend.

Feral honey bees use 6 mm as the bee space in the “supers” and 8 mm in the “brood box”. Eight millimetres allows them to work back to back. However, there is some variability. Apis mellifera scutellata, which are the same size as our honey bee, live in Ethiopia and use an 11.30±1.99 mm bee space.

Comparison of different bee spaces used in beekeeping

By observing these spaces, bees make the most of the room in their nest/hive. Like “nature abhors a vacuum”, bees don’t like spaces in the wrong places. So, if a spare bit of space is about 4 mm or less, they fill it with propolis. But if the gap is larger than 9.6 mm, they ignore it or fill it with comb.

 Frame spacing replicates the distance between natural combs.

This brace comb could be a consequence of too large a bee space, lack of space in the hive or, for some reason, only known to bees.

Here is another explanation

With bottom space, there is room for the bees to move around under the frames. BeeBox Langstroth hives are bottom space, like most other poly hives and Nationals. The Beebox bee space is about 9 mm. If it increases to 10 mm, it invites the bees to draw brace/bridge comb. The increase may arise due to squashed bees on the edges of the hive wall.

Langstroth, the father of all modern hives with removable frames, was the first beekeeper to use bee space in a vertical hive. Others had already observed the space but did not realise its global significance.

Read more on Cushman’s site – The history of bee things.

< Top space can be achieved in a bottom space boxes by reducing the height of the lugs (albeit they will become a bit fragile). If you are starting your woodworking career, a router rig would make this possible. One retailer sells top-space frames for bottom space Langstroph, but I can’t remember which.

Cold way - Warm way

Cold/warm way has to do with the orientation of the frames in the hive. To understand this, consider British Standard —Nationals. The hive footprint is square. So, there is the option to have boxes that take frames parallel or perpendicular to the entrance. The beekeeping terms for these are “warm way”, which in wooden hives, results in a brood nest more like a football. Orientating frames “Cold Way”, results in more brood being reared towards the back of the hive due to the chilly air coming in the entrance. This results in a rugby football-shaped brood nest.

Bees in poly hives form a warm way shaped brood nest even when their frames are Cold Way and during the winter they primarily cluster at the front of the hive.

An advantage of Cold Way is that two people can inspect the hive from either side, which is lovely if a bee pal comes to help. During an inspection, the boxes can be placed behind the hive.

Warm-way hives are great for one person who can inspect from the rear. The hive can be positioned on a long stand, and boxes placed beside it during an inspection.

When they can, feral bees draw warm-way comb near the entrance and cold-way comb further back.