Disturbing symmetry

Honey extraction is one of the few tedious aspects of beekeeping. The first couple of supers are enjoyable enough, but the novelty soon wears off. It's the repetitive, messy, noisy aspect of the task that's unpleasant (coupled with the prospect of all that clearing up 😞).

But, the next time you're clinging to the wobbly extractor, cursing the productivity of your bees, take a moment to think about what you're working with.

Comb and honey are two of the very best parts of beekeeping. Honey, for entirely obvious reasons, and comb because it's a fantastic example of the perfect coincidence of form and function.

Very strong, incredibly lightweight, fully recyclable and truly multi-functional.

And, if a single frame of comb is impressive — as a nursery in which bees are reared, as a communication platform, as a storage solution — then an entire nest should induce a feeling of awe.

However, most beekeepers probably don't give either individual combs, or the arrayed combs of the brood nest, a lot of thought.

We lift them out of the brood box, check both sides for queen cells or brood diseases or in the hope of seeing new eggs {{1}}, and then return them. Sometimes they go back in the same orientation with the same neighbours. At other times — for example when 'spreading the brood' (on which, more later) or making up a nuc or a split — they get mixed up.

But closer inspection shows a remarkable symmetry in individual brood frames, and in the brood nest. The former probably influences the development of the latter, and our colony inspections likely disturb this wonderful organisation … but is it to the detriment of the colony?

How does frame and nest symmetry arise, and are there ways to avoid disrupting it during hive inspections?