In a message dated 2/20/2004 1:31:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Yes, I got your VERY NICE and explanatory letter; and THANKS!
Good, because I have had some weird computer things going on. These are such
great tools, but when they screw up....I'm lost. LOL

It s CONSTANT concern to me that people condemn the Imirie Shim saying that
bees build burr comb on top of the frames in the 3/4" hollow space of the shim.
OF COURSE THE BEES WILL DO THAT, if there is not ENOUGH drawn comb super
space available!  Gosh, the bees are trying hard to tell the beekeeper that they
need MORE super space to deposit their nectar, or they might swarm!

I have never had a problem with the burr comb, except when I used it below a
top feeder. So, I just put the IS on top and no burr comb! As a small time
beekeeper (hoping to be bigger this year than last), I don't mind burr comb. We
have had day after day of rainy weather and the bees are behined where they
were at this time last year. I haven't seen any drones, so I have not split any
hives yet. By this time last year, I had split 6 hives to 10 and caught my very
first swarm (from my hive). I added supers to my hives this year already,
because on the nice hours inbetween storms, the bees are bringing in nectar! I
think I should be giving them more supers, so when we have a nice warm day, I'll
get right on that. So much to learn and so many variables!

If my bees normally average 3 full supers of honey during our April and May
nectar flow, I always install 5 supers of drawn comb (NOT FOUNDATION) on April
15th. Hence, the bees have lots of room to store all that THIN WATERY nectar
(maybe 20 pounds/day) until they have time to evaporate the water and ripen it
into honey. Hence, I rarely have a swarm during a nectar flow.

Ah, drawn comb, the beekeeper's most prized possession!!! I read that on your
site and last year bought 15 supers,  that were filled with drawn comb from a
retiring beekeeper. At $15 a super, I felt like I had a gold mine!!! It was a
good thing, because I caught 23 swarms and used every piece of equipment I
owned. I am building equipment like crazy during this wet weather. Gearing up
for a big increase.

What I am saying is you should always have more supers of drawn comb (again,
NEVER foundation) on your hive than you anticipate being filled with honey.

What if you have no more drawn comb? Wouldn't the bees draw it since there is
a nectar flow on???

My super configuration is: starting upward from the queen excluder (I
strongly believe in queen excluders, and the are NOT honey excluders as some people
say) there are 2 supers of DRAWN COMB, 1st Imirie Shim, 2 more supers of DRAWN
COMB, 2nd Imirie Shim, the 5th super of DRAWN COMB, and topped with a Goble
style inner cover which provides another UPPER ENTRANCE.

I use QX, but usually only if I have comb honey above, or 3 weeks before I am
going to extract, so that by the time I am ready, there should be no more
brood left to hatch. Do you have the QX on during swarm season? Do you do any
manipulation of the BB frames in order to keep space in there?

By the way, DRAWN COMB is every beekeeper's MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION and one
should never allow it to be destroyed by wax moths

I bought out 5 x-beekeepers last year and one was full of wax moth
destruction, but it had happened long ago, so there was no wax left, just feces and
marred woodenware. One other one was really destroyed by the wax moth and I shook
it all off in the driveway, before I pressure washed the frames. I was
stomping live moths. I did that to the larvae, too. I thought I got them all, but the
yellow jackets and wasps found the ones I couldn't!!

Hence during a nectar flow, the congestion in the brood chamber is greatly
reduced because the forager bees are using the 3 entrances into the supers (2
entrances in the 2 Imirie Shims plus the entrance in the Goble Inner Cover).  The
standard bottom board entrance is primarily being used by young bees taking
orientation flights and the drones, of course.

Well, I see that is one way to cut down congestion. Thanks for explaining
these things to me!

As always, I hope I have helped.

Yes, thank you and please email me anytime!

Kathy Cox, Bloomfield Bees and Bouquets
Northern California, Italian, 13 hives
www.kathycox.frankcox.net

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