Just to put in my two cents on the subject-
Here in Texas, my queens never seem to stop laying. However, one of my
hives stopped when I inserted the strips, then promptly resumed when I
removed it. The other hive's activity remained unchanged. Both hives
were otherwise completely identical (as far as I could tell) in strength,
age of queen, # of supers, infestation of mites, etc..
Go figure...
Cynthia