In a message dated 1/8/01 9:33:11 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<If the queen squeezes through the excluder you'll have a REALLY
 tough time sending her down onto your foundation below.  I have 2 or 3
 hives that have 'beaten me' and kept a box or two of feral comb for
 years because I haven't convinced the queen to lay onto my
 frames...yet.>>

  There is a simple solution that *usually* works. In the spring (or at least
during a flow), put a box of comb under the upside-down box of wild comb. As
soon as you find brood in the lower box, smoke the upper to increase the odds
that the queen is run down, and get an excluder in there. Queens are
reluctant to lay in upside-down comb. Of course the bees will eventually tear
down the comb to the midrib and build it right-side up, but the convenience
of the comb just below her brood area will usually get her down quickly.


<<Now I  understand robbing a bit better and would strongly caution anyone
 against placing comb on the front of their hives.  Robbing can be a
 tough habit to break once they get started.  You might end up fighting
 with bees instead of managing all summer long. >>

   Agreed. I have about come to the point of never using robbing as a method,
simply because so many bees die when it happens, all with their honey
stomachs full, of course. This waste is not the only reason, but it is enough
to make me very reluctant to allow robbing at all.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com