Hi all,
 
In a conversation last night  with  some  beekeeping  friends,  we  were
talking  about this year's swarming (_Heavy_ -- Some of my colonies with
new queens just eight weeks old are preparing again to swarm!).  We  got
on  to  how we should decrease the number of stocks after our artificial
swarms, swarm capturing and so on.  Everyone  admitted  some  difficulty
with  this, particularly in high season -- all the books tell you how to
make increase but none seem to give  much  advice  about  restoring  the
status quo.
 
There are lots of people out there who must have dealt with  this  to  a
greater  or  lesser  extent  already.   What  are your preferred methods
please?
 
I reckon our little group here are about  to  start  experimenting  with
uniting  large  colonies  in  mid  season.  For the record, I personally
expect to use the newspaper method to do the uniting with the  queen  in
the  lower  brood  box below a QX (maybe I need a drone exit?), give the
brood time to hatch and then move the upper box above  the  cover  board
where I hope it will be cleaned of stores.
 
My guess is that this will stay as a thread on the newsgroup/list as  it
may  be of wide interest.  However, if you think I'm wrong please say so
on the list and ask people to mail me directly.  I will  then  summarise
and  post a result.  I'm away for a couple of days now so I can't answer
directly for a while.
 
Thanks in advance,
--
Gordon Scott    [log in to unmask]         100332,3310 on CompuServe
Newsletter      [log in to unmask]      ditto
                Beekeeper, Kendo Sandan, sometime sailor.
                Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 5HP, UK