> Comparing hives with and without drone comb, Seeley found:
> This study examined the impact on a colony’s honey production of
> providing it with a nat- ural amount (20%) of drone comb. Colonies with
> drone comb gained only 25.2 +- 16.0 kg whereas those without drone comb
> gained 48.8 +- 14.8 kg.
Is that the same study where frames of solid drone comb were placed in
positions 3 and 7? If so, that is not normal and impedes the build-up of
expanding colonies, since normally those positions are worker comb and
pretty well full of worker brood during build-up.
As for the varroa observations, they make sense to me.
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