Nancy Wicker wrote:
>I have a long-term interest in studying the debris as I think it offers
many valuable clues as to what's going upstairs<

I'm with Nancy on this.  I make my own bottom boards with a #8 screen mesh
floor and a sheet metal drawer underneath.  I use thin sheet aluminum for
the drawers, found in the roofing section of the hardware store and called
'flatstock' around here.  It's pre-painted white, so bee debris shows up
well. I coat them with Vaseline and scrape them off with the thin end of a
cedar shingle.  The frass drop gives an idea which frames are being worked,
where wax building is happening, where pollen is being handled, how much,
and to some extent what type; the location of the cluster going into
winter, whether shop towels or other removables are being removed etc, all
without opening the hive.  Mite drops may be somewhat underestimated
compared to washes, but a fixed monitoring board never sleeps, and provides
information at every visit.

Rob in NB

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