> Ok, so I'll ask the obvious question. What prevents these swarms from becoming *varroa* bombs?

Well, the very concept of "Darwinian Beekeeping" implies every man for himself (in this case, every colony). It does not consider the impact on the losers, only the winners. But that's one thing about humans that's counter to survival of the fittest, we work together for the good of all. Sure, there are some completely selfish individuals, and perhaps they succeed but that isn't the point. As a social species, we have concern for the least among us, we rise above concern for family and clan. 

Back to the small hives, though, it occurred to me that using the same amount of equipment that I have now, I could run three times as many hives. If the average honey yield was one third of what it is now, I would still produce the same amount of honey and with a lot less work. Seeley only checks the hives a few times a year, and then just to write stuff down. 

But naturally the beekeeper in me thinks we can do better than that, by extracting some essential principal and turning it into a management tool. This year, I removed all of the brood and bees from one colony, leaving it in the condition of a swarm. Just a queen and a bunch of bees. This significantly slowed the buildup of mites in that colony but it did not prevent them from reaching the threshold by midsummer. Also, that hive made just as much honey as the average.

PLB

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