PerthshireBees · Perthshire, UK · Queens · Jul 26, 2026
Two-queen vertical system for the heather flow — has anyone actually run one?
Perthshire, seven years, and every season I read about two-queen systems producing monster crops and every season I chicken out. With the heather flow starting late here (August into September) I'm wondering if this is finally the year to trial one.
The setup as I understand it: two queenright brood chambers stacked vertically, separated by a divider board (double screen / Snelgrove type) so the colonies share warmth and scent but the queens never meet, supers above an excluder drawing foragers from both broods. Then unite into one boomer before or during the main flow.
Questions for anyone who's genuinely done it: is the crop increase real or does one colony just always dwindle? How bad is the lifting — I'm picturing a hive taller than me. And when you finally unite, do you just remove the divider and let them sort out which queen survives?
#two-queen#snelgrove#heather#honey-crop
▲ 8 votes💬 4 replies
4 replies
ImkerinLena · Jul 26, 2026
I ran vertical two-queen colonies for several seasons. The crop increase is real — two laying queens through June means a forager population no single queen can build — but it is NOT double, more like 130–160% of a good single. The cost is management: everything happens on a ladder, every inspection means dismantling a tower, and timing the unite matters more than the setup. Unite 2–3 weeks before the flow peak; done later the extra bees just eat the crop.
DrentseBij · Jul 27, 2026
On the unite: most people find the older queen when removing the divider and bank or cull her rather than letting them fight — a lost fight can also mean a damaged winner. Some just pull the board and accept the lottery. And the lifting is no joke; I stopped two-queening the year my back made the decision for me. Consider running it on a pallet at knee height from the start.
DevonBees_Em · Jul 27, 2026
The cowardly middle path I use in Devon: run two colonies side by side all season, then do a newspaper unite of one strong colony onto another in late July for the specific flow you care about. Most of the two-queen benefit, none of the tower. For your heather timing that maths might work nicely.
PerthshireBees · Jul 27, 2026
DevonBees_Em, that might honestly be the sensible version of what I want — I have two colonies of similar strength that would suit it. ImkerinLena's 130–160% with a ladder vs DevonBees_Em's 'most of the benefit' at chest height... I know which one my spine votes for. Might still trial one true two-queen tower next spring for the education.