Randy wrote: " In most studies that I've seen, the low point of broodrearing is in late Nov, and generally picks up in early Dec, well before the solstice."

In MT, queens quit in Sept, generally don't resume laying until February, sometimes  see some brood in January.  We almost always get a January thaw, then usually go back into the deep freeze for Feb.  Feb can be our coldest month.  I've dug down to hives through snow drifts and found brood in Feb.  December is too early for resumption of brood rearing, at least most years  -  based on our own observations - we often run experiments, sample all through the winter.  I did two years work  looking at tracheal and varroa mites some years ago - we sampled and inspected every month - get tricky doing this without chilling the colony, breaking cluster.


Jerry

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