Bee Liners;

I am just finishing up 2 weeks in Moldova on an ongoing beekeeping
improvement project and I have been visiting a lot of commercial beekeepers
and observing them at work.  Two things stand out to me as being very
different from what most US beekeepers practice.  The Moldovans add a deep
super under the hive body when crowding occurs and force the queen to
expand the brood nest downwards.  They say this is about conservation of
heat - that adding an empty deep above is a big heat sink.  Almost everyone
here also uses a rim with a sheet of plastic over the frames with a blanket
or pillow or some type of insulation under a telescoping cover.

I certainly see the value of a tightly fitting migratory lid but are we
missing something on the heat conservation practices?

Wonderful bees and beekeepers here by-the-way.  Very conservative native
bees that winter well and very common to see capped honey remaining on the
brood frames even in late April.

I will post some photos of bee yards on my Facebook page under Beekeeping
Consulting for Development

Bill Lord
Louisburg, NC
Chisinau Moldova

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html