Bill states:
Truth is, the least productive of my hives is on small
(5.0)cell and has been so for years (even after re
queening). But it is also plastic foundation, so is that
the real problem?
Reply:
Okay, this I can understand then. 5.0mm or Dadant 900 was
the first trial on small cell size, but was taken off the
market due to lobbying (we were a large part) that with the
contract we had with the Tucson Lab it just wasn't right.
We have stated this before, and also that while our bees
lived on the 5.0mm they had much secondary disease, they
lived with the mites,but we barely made a living.......
Then with much todo, and politics hot and heavy Arizona was
deregulated which gave us the option to not treat if we
wanted to, but also to continue our journey back to a clean
sustainable beekeeping system. Which we have done in our
field management by not using all various dopes/treatments.
Then since it was said prove it was the small cell and
nothing else, we were challenged. So changing NOTHING ELSE
in our field management, we shook every hive we had down to
the 4.9mm top tolerance sizing and started handmilling our
whole outfit over. We went from close to 1,000 colonies
down to about 104 in the end bitting the bullet. It did
prove something though, for we were told 90% of the bees in
the country wouldn't make a regression like that shaking
down, and boy we sure proved that.
But the only thing we changed in our field management was
the cell size to 4.9mm foundation top tolerance milled on
4.9mm embossing rollers and with hot wax so in actuality it
is in the middle 4.85 to upper 4.88 to 4.9 range.
But we got rid of the secondary diseases. Then the climb
back started, for by shaking down all hives, we then were
forced to retool and redraw out all foundation, for we
saved not even the honey supers, so there would be no doubt
the only thing changed was the cell size.
Well, it has been hard, for it is said you either make bees
or you make honey, and having to drawout all new combs both
for the broodnest and honey supers sure is hard.Then try to
stay in beekeeping on top of it.
Well, to end. Only thing changed was the comb size and all
the combs our bees are on. We are back now to 900 +/-
colonies again and foundations are about done being drawn
hopefully. This coming year if we can get them made the
honey supers go on even more. Soon we stop making hives and
go fully to back to production in our desert region. But we
used no dopes/treatments and just changed the combs.
Don't know if that is an experiment or not. But we have
held pat, stayed the course, and soon the truth will be
out, as more and more come on following us.
This year coming is year 10, a decade done on our second
regression (saying regression now because I cannot live
with the word retrogresson we were told we had to use
instead before). And to prove a point thrown at us,
Show/prove to us it is the foundation sizing that is
wrong,we are now almost home now in more ways then one.
Respectfullyl submitted,
Dee A. Lusby
Small Cell Commercial Beekeeper
Moyza, Arizona
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organicbeekeepers
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