> I suppose one thing that affects my perspective and
>makes it different from the typical researcher working with the typical
>colony using the typical assumptions is that I produced 30,000 comb
>sections a year, regardless of conditions
Not to belabour this, in learning how to do this, I had to adjust populations,
cavity size, and observe the effects of temperature gradients in the
intended storage area.
Not only did my bees not have much pre-built comb to store in , but they
had to build comb before they could store much, but it seems they could
and they did.
Interestingly, against all the published data, I made almost exactly the
same poundage of comb honey as I did extracted honey in hives not
making comb, but the management was very different.
For extracted honey under most summer conditions, adding excess
space and upper entrances was beneficial, although excess ventilation
and empty space was a problem if the weather turned on me -- unless
populations were sufficient to maintain hive temperatures between flow
days. If not, they began to remove honey from the outer reaches and
carry it back down to the brood chambers in short order and show less
interest in those outer regions thereafter. (This is one reason Bob so
loves Italians. I'm sure he will explain that)
For comb honey, much less space was optimal and adding more room
than the bees could occupy was counterproductive. After all, a hive that
needs six standards of drawn comb fits nicely into one standard and
two or three shallows of Ross Rounds comb foundation -- until it is
drawn and filled.
Heat conservation (or maybe management is a better word) is paramount
in comb production, as the bees do not draw well in unoccupied corners or
areas which the cluster must leave at night or on cold days.
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