Brood

Definition

Open brood is eggs and unsealed larvae; sealed or capped brood is pupae under a wax capping. The brood nest is held at around 34-35 °C year-round and its pattern is the main diagnostic a beekeeper has: an even solid pattern indicates a laying queen in good condition, and a patchy one indicates disease, a failing queen or inbreeding.

Where the word gets used loosely

Varroa mites reproduce inside sealed brood cells, which is why mite treatment timing is built around brood cycles and why a brood break is itself a control method.

Honey records that discuss this

• Dandelion honeySharp, pungent and unmistakably strong for a spring honey — a chamomile-and-hay aroma with an animal note behind it that fades as the honey ages.
• Titi honeyMild and clean with a light floral sweetness and no strong distinguishing character — the honey itself is unremarkable, which is why nothing about it justifies the cost to the colony.
• Mahua honeyHeavy and molasses-like with a fermented dried-fruit note and a faintly smoky finish — one of the more challenging Indian honeys and among the most distinctive.
• Willow honeyMild, faintly green and quick to set. A spring honey in the literal sense, and one most beekeepers taste and few buyers ever see.
• Spring blossom honeyMild, creamy and clean, with a faint cabbagey note where rape dominates. An easy honey and a spreadable one.
• Oil-tea camellia honeyPale, thin and distinctly bitter, with an astringent tea-like finish. Not a beginner's honey and not really a pleasure honey.

Plant records that discuss this

• LavenderAn unusually good nectar plant relative to its pollen offering. Bees visiting lavender are mostly there for nectar, which is why it supports adult foragers well and contributes less to brood rearing.
• SourwoodA serious nectar source with very little pollen to offer, which is a useful illustration of why the two are rated separately: sourwood feeds foragers superbly and contributes almost nothing to brood rearing.
• DandelionThe pollen is what makes it critical. It arrives when colonies are expanding fastest and have the least in reserve, and bumblebee queens emerging from hibernation depend on early sources like this one to found a nest at all.
• SageVery high nectar and only moderate pollen — sage feeds adult foragers superbly and contributes comparatively little to brood rearing, which is a common pattern in the mint family.
• CrocusVery high pollen at a point in the year when pollen is the binding constraint on a colony starting to raise brood. Bees return from crocus carrying enormous bright orange loads, which is one of the most cheerful sights in a February apiary.
• HazelThe clearest illustration in the catalogue of why nectar and pollen are rated separately: hazel scores zero for one and top marks for the other, and it matters enormously.