The discussion got me thinking of the why.

It appears to me that commercial and large scale beekeepers are no
newspaper while small scale (not necessarily beginners) tend toward
newspapers to combine hives.

The simple answer may get down to labor costs compared to bee costs. A no
newspaper combine has the potential for some bee loss but minimum labor, so
it is worth it. Losses are very manageable.

The small scale beekeeper has all the time and free labor available and is
reluctant to have any bee loss, probably because it is not a vocation but a
very personal undertaking.

That difference is apparent in similar large/small undertakings, such as
owning back yard chickens where each has a name, compared to a poultry
farm. In either case the owners can be very experienced and knowledgeable
but have very different practices.

So the issue is not the pejorative "beginner" compared to experienced, but
labor against leisure.

At least that is my take.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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