Hi All
 
Murray, you mentioned that you believe some of your bees may clean
out silk from cells.
 
It's seems sensible that bees would do this, but I have never seen
any evidence to suggest this in any of the hives I have inspected -
but given that our bees don't have an interupted brood rearing
period it seems likley that they never get a chance. What happens
here I believe is that once a cavity is so full of old comb that it
just becomes too unhygenic for the bees they leave and in a few days
wax moths have destroyed any combs left there. When the bees come
back next spring from a fresh swarm they build back the combs on the
old design, and the nesting site is rejuvinated.
 
Another thing which intrigues me is the tendency our bees have of
propolising drone cells over time leading to smaller drons - this may
also have an effect on varroa resistance if our bees have any.
 
As regards the posts suggesting queens will preferably lay on old
dark combs - I have never observed this. The older the combs the
spottier the brood pattern. Our bees tend to use old combs for polen
storage (and I have seen them store pollen in old combs in the middle
of the brood nest, with younger combs on either side that were solid
brood.
 
Old combs also seem to get a very strong ammonia smell here -
something that I would theorize would damage bees developing in them.
 (When I say an old comb, I mean one that is picth black and which
one could almost jump on without damaging it it is so packed with
silk)
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!!