> Last January, he was setting up observation hives for a bee meeting. He
> found brood in the colonies he opened.

In  my experience, the timing of the broodless period can vary widely from
colony to colony in the same yard.  In our region, some have no brood as
early as September/October and others much later.  By late January, most
have had a little when I have checked.  Some hives may never be broodless,
but I suspect most shut down for a little while.

Broodlessness may depend on when supercedure or requeening last occurred,
the age of the queen, population dynamics, presence or absence of honey and
pollen, etc. and many other factors.  The timing and length of broodlessness
will depend also on the race, since some strains are much less inclined to
cut back when flows are reduced or shut off, while some will shut down on
any day there is no flow.

That is one reason why beekeepers use several oxalic evaporations.  While
they are hoping to get the mites that were in brood, if there was any when
last treated, and also hoping to hit a broodless period in hives that had
brood at that time.

Having a variety of strains in a yard makes prediction and management more
difficult, but, if the beekeeper is consistent and does not continually
change schedules or add new stock, eventually the strains that do not thrive
under the system survive, and the ones that are out of phase are
extinguished.

allen

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