Yup, there are many variations that can be practiced and be called the same Peter. I just needed a name to describe what I'm trying to do. The difference in what you did and what I do is that I repeat the process a second time right after harvest Which leaves my bees just enough time to rebuild for winter. What you can do in your area is for you to play with and see what may work. Colonies that only send out a prime swarm in the spring are very likely to be well over threshold by summer. Seeley's small hive experiments had multiple swarms and a big reason why they only had about 2% mite levels going into winter.

Not saying one way or the other, I just think these ideas are interesting in that some may work it out were they can reduce chemical inputs or maybe all together. That's coming from a hobby beekeeper that keeps a couple dozen hives give or take.

Vancouver Island, Parksville,
Canada, BC  
 

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