Yesterday I mentioned 'drone trapping combs'. I ment mite-trapping drone
combs which consist of drone brood. These combs are drawn by the bees on
drone comb foundation. When you put an empty drone comb into the broodnest of
a colony, you will obtain (provided that it's the right season) a comb with a
batch of drone brood differing about one week in age. Mites invade the brood
cells before capping, for drone brood cells this starts about two days before
capping, from that moment this drone comb starts to trap mites. This mite
trapping drone comb will have the highest effectivity when all the mites of a
colony are on the adult bees. The mite trapping drone combs are produced and
preferably used in broodless colonies.  We integrate the mite trapping drone
combs into a swarm prevention method. I think that lots of variations could
be considered, depending the beekeeping procedures prefered.
 
yours,
 
Johan Calis
 
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Wageningen Agricultural University
The Netherlands