>> BTW, I removed one of the six test hives from the project

 > Which hive is one removed from the project?

Hive Number One.  It had been small for some time and although it had a 
queen and a bit of brood when I pulled a frame or two a few weeks back, 
it did not seem to be coming on.

I found yesterday that another hive had a box and a half of good bees 
and no apparent queen.  I decided to combine the two in hopes that I 
might have one good hive instead of losing both, which appeared to be 
the probable outcome otherwise.

The weaker hive might have built up on its own and could have stayed in 
the test, regardless, but it was falling below the minimum size for a 
rebound.  I have some doubts that this queen will be able to accomplish 
much, even with more bees.  I suspect the she may have been the cause of 
the hive's small size in the first place.  I'm giving here the chance 
because I have no alternative and am hoping she will keep the queenless 
addition happy until I can equalize or split or re-queen.  Queens may be 
available soon from abroad, but requeen ing right now is not likely to 
be easy.  In a month, though, I can do anything I want because the 
spring sources will be yielding.

---

I mention this because failing hives present a common dilemma to anyone 
trying to study bee colonies.  That inevitable situation, unless it is 
obviously and provably a direct result of an influence being studied, 
forces the observer to make a decision which can affect the apparent 
outcome and the conclusions of the study.

In may  studies, these events are not discussed, but they provide an 
opportunity for subjectivity to creep in.

---

The entire project is 'summarized' at 
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/files/drop.htm

Since it just 'happened', then grew like Topsy, the history for those 
really interested is scattered through my public diary from early 
October to present.

See http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

I cleaned up the drop page at 
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/files/drop.htm somewhat a while back 
to make it more understandable, but have not really written the whole 
tale up concisely as of yet.  That is partly because I have been sorta 
waiting for people to tell me it is worth spending the additional effort 
on.  The current chronicle is mostly for my own entertainment, and the 
most obvious observation is that treating five times with oxalic vapour 
has not had a major harmful effect on the hives.  The 12% attrition from 
October to present is very acceptable and better than normal for this 
region and the survivors look very good, as can be seen on my current 
diary page.

The charts and the table, which were up-to-date one month ago and are 
due for an update shortly with new data, tell a lot to anyone who cares 
to browse the site and/or download the MS Excel file from 
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1605400/MiteDropsDetail_11.xlsx -- A wide screen 
high res monitor is almost a prerequisite for comfortable viewing of the 
huge matrix.

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