Hi Randy

> Wow!  The rate at which a strong colony can build comb astonishes me!

It is not just the 'strength' in terms of numbers, there are occasions 
when desire becomes more urgent in the the bees, not that I have any 
clues as to why.

> Dave, I'm trying to get a feel for the value of drone trap frames.

I see them as a convenient means of helping reduce varroa numbers in 
those colonies that I do not wish to have drones 'contaminating' my 
breeding pool.

> The one property of them that stands out to me is that they can be used
> to "manage" where the bees place drone comb in the colony, by giving
> them a place to build it.

Yes, but by artificially creating drone comb in a location of beekeeper 
choice, you destroy the order that the bees create for themselves, the 
pattern of drone comb that occur naturally, may not appear 'ordered' to 
a beekeeper's eye, but the bees must have good reason for the randomness.

> The question would be:  Under what circumstances does the benefit of
> removing the mites in a frame of drone brood outweight the cost for the bees
> to replace it?

That will depend on your management reasons, the timing will vary quite 
a lot due to race... You are looking for early drones, I am looking for 
very late drones. It is not a simple arithmetic relationship, a large 
percentage of the energy and resources put in by the workers in raising 
drones is over and above normal and to a degree self compensates (I have 
no numbers though).

-- 
Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://melliferabees.net Email: [log in to unmask]
Short FallBack M/c, Build 7.21/2.01
Son of ORAC M/c, Build 5.o1/2.o1

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