Hi All
 
I had a recent interesting observation - a common problem in my area
is the bee louse, Braulo coeca (or something like that). Basically,
one sees one or two sitting on the backs of bees, but always at least
three per queen.
 
I had an observation hive set up and noticed that the bees after a
few days seemed to learn to clean the queen of mites, as well as
preening themselve. I then noticed that If I covered the hive for a
few days, lo and behold the queen was rebrauloed.
 
Removing the blanket and they preened her clean.
 
So my question is - how would it be to have a window at the back of a
beehive to allow some light in and then every now and then open it to
let the bees preen themselves. (obviously only for small scale honey
production and/or that imaginary organic concept)
 
Just a thought
 
Keep well
 
Garth
 
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey