Can you all offer any feedback? What you plan on doing was done in the early days of varroa control. >I trap each queen somehow to keep her from laying new eggs. 16 days after trapping the queen I use some sort of form board/vertical queen excluder to limit her to just one frame of drone brood. caged queen method developed in Germany (Maul 1983). Drone brood was not used but might work but not needed for method to work. See below. >Nine days later that frame of drones should be getting capped and there shouldn't be any other capped brood in the hive, so I'm speculating an extremely high percentage of varroa should enter that drone brood. *trap comb method* (netherlands in early 80's I believe). The idea is to get to the point the only brood in the hive is under screen marked for removal (called trap comb). >If I then eliminate that drone brood will I actually get an outstanding varroa kill? You will get a kill but exactly how outstanding remains to be seen. The caged queen trap comb method described in bee literature involves frames of worker brood and not drone brood. I have never used the methods so can only give a few thoughts. trying to get the confined queen to lay drones at a time when drones are not needed by the hive might be problematic . Perhaps why two frames of worker brood is suggested in the literature. Actually being the only available brood in the hive I doubt the varroa will be picky. > Is there a way I can do this without inciting swarming? I can't see swarming being a problem (or would have been a described problem in the literature). >For my scale the labor seems manageable. No doubt labor intensive as a varroa control but others have felt worth the effort. >But what other challenges would this method present? None that we have not discussed in my opinion but maybe a beekeeper which has used the caged queen trap drone method will comment and possibly add their variation. Beekeepers always modify most systems to meet their own needs. To advance your thoughts to the most common trap comb method is as follows: 1. the queen is caged on empty comb with excluder screens and moved to another comb at certain intervals. 2. after 10 days the brood outside the screened cage is sealled completely so the varroa can reproduce only in the trap comb. 3.if the trap combs are removed at 7 day intervals then the majority of varroa could possibly be removed after the removal of four trap combs in a months time period. Good luck with your project! If you test before and after you should be able to figure the effiacy of the method. >What varroa control can be expected from a broodless period even without drone brood trapping? A broodless period always slows varroa growth as the varroa are forced onto adult bees to survive and their reproduction is stopped. Bob Ps. I have tried to explain as simply as possible. If you still have questions please ask. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::