Bees & Fire Update - Expanding Brood Volume - What is Checkerboarding/Pyramiding?

In late August of 2021 head Beekeeper and Commercial Queen Breeder, Jose Uribe, heads up to the Lake Almanor area in Plumas County where the Dixie Fire previously swept through. To date, the Dixie Fire is the single largest blaze fire in California totaling just under a million acres burned over the course of three months. After a quick pit stop, Jose continues onto the bee yard located in Lassen County, California where he inspects and works hives. With him, he has brought drawn foundation to incorporate into the colonies in order to increase brood productivity. Due to the smoke from the active fire, the bees ability to forage has been limited, hence the need for drawn comb. Jose shares a hive management technique called Checkerboarding (also referred to as Pyramiding) which is a term often used by Northern California Beekeepers. This system of alternating empty frames in the brood nest is different from Walt Wright's checkerboarding technique which is done above the brood nest in the overhead honey, and where there is no brood nest disturbance. The reason why Jose is checkerboarding is to promote the queen to lay in the new drawn comb and to work the bees up to the top brood box. As Jose heads back home, he stops at a structure that has an aluminized wrap around it to protect it from radiant heat and burning embers. US Forest Service and other professional firefighting agencies use these wraps to protect historical and high value national treasures when there aren’t enough resources, or its too dangerous to leave a crew behind to protect. If you placed a queen order with us this year… thank you! We are passionate about what we do and are working to make a big difference in the industry. If you are new to our channel, welcome! We are a small family owned and operated commercial apiary located in Northern California. We've been commercial beekeeping for the past 12 years, but branched off and opened Uribe Honey Bees in January of 2019, and launched our YouTube channel in April of 2020. We specialize in queen breeding, pollination services, hive management and brokering. Thank you for watching and supporting us! We love you guys! Check out Hives for Heroes: https://www.hivesforheroes.com --------------------------------------------- This is not a sponsored video. --------------------------------------------- Connect with us: https://www.instagram.com/thecaliforniabeekeeper https://www.facebook.com/thecaliforniabeekeeper https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecaliforniabeekeeper https://www.thecaliforniabeekeeper.com Inquiries: [email protected] --------------------------------------------- We'd love to hear from you: Uribe Honey Bees PO Box 616 Red Bluff, CA 96080 USA #bees #beekeeper #beekeeping