> >I don't have any colonies that are diseased, so the issue is subpar
> strength.
>

Then to what do you attribute their subpar strength?

>
> >Better still, shake the bees out. "I didn't say they *should* be combined
> with another, I said they *could* -- and suggested it was a fool's errand.


It may be a fool's errand, or maybe not. It only takes me a few seconds to
stack weak colonies on top of one another (sometimes combining 3 or 4),
although sometimes I'll move a few frames to create a single broodnest.
Many combines don't make it, but some miraculously recover.  Those that
make it, make me a lot of money in the spring.
-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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