Here is my thinking about the Snelgrove board and varroa, Randy... Tell me
what you think.  

What can be accomplished with a Snelgrove board (a double screen)is to
provide a break in the brood cycle that will inhibit the varroa while
breeding a new queen.  The intreguing part is that the old queen can
continue laying.  No bee power is lost.

The Snelgrove board is often made with number 8 hardware cloth.  To deal
with varroa it is necessary to go for smaller mesh - I think 25 or 30 mesh
works.  The smaller mesh can just be place over the existing hardware
cloth.  This mesh allows warm air to rise through it, but impedes varroa
from moving down.

I start with my two-story Langstroth.  I find the queen and place her in
the lower hive body but only with empty comb... or with eggs and very young
larva... larva young enough to not have attracted varroa. Then the
Snelgrobe board goes on with the back upper entrance open.  The remaining
bees and all older and sealed larva go above the Snelgrove board. This
upper group needs a frame of eggs, also, from which to make a new queen.

If the bees follow the plan, the group on top does raise a new queen.  But
as the new queen develops, emerges, and mates, there is a break in the
brood cycle that slows the growth of the varroa population in the upper
hive body.  During this time the old queen continues laying in the lower
hive body which now contains lower varroa density than it would if those
inhabiting the upper hive body would be allowed in.

After about a month, the beekeeper has choices - recombine the colonies
using the new queen, make a nuc with the new queen, or  split the two hive
bodies. However, both groups have experience a break in the brood cycle. 
Honey supers can be added if appropriate.

This is obviously not the technique for a beekeeper with thousands of
hives, but for a backyard beekeeper, this is interesting,  mildly
challenging and (I think) potentially effective.

I doubt that this is the ultimate answer to varroa, but it fits in my
thinking of IPM.  I have honestly never scientifically tested this
technique, but like with a lot of beekeeping, if it works don't stop doing
it.

Mr. Snelgrove was a pretty smart guy!  So, Randy, does this dog hunt?

Larry

-----------------------------------------------
On Fri, 6 Jan 2012 06:33:53 -0800, randy oliver <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>>the Snelgrove board has the advantage of being an IPM approach to varroa
> 

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