Brian R Tucker wrote:
>
> Anyone Have any major losses to report Yet?
 
Yes, I miss my mind. Has anyone seen it floating by?
 
Seriously, I only have two hives and periodically take out
the entrance reducer and run a thin dowel thru and sweep out
what is there. A few days ago, I did this and I swept out what
seemed to be an inordinate pile of deceased members. I thought
I surely had lost this hive. A couple of days later the temp
went up high enough for some cleansing flights. A number emerged
from this hive..a much greater number than from the other hive.
 
I was thrilled. Thinking about it later, I wondered if I should have
opened her up to see what the population consisted of. However, I felt
reluctant to do so, thinking that it was not a very good idea to
disrurb whoever was there at this time of year..might lose a few more
who fly out to see what is happening.
 
The temp was a shade or two over 50% in full sun at about 1:30pm.
 
The question: Should I have opened it up for the purpose stated
above?
  ...perhaps to determine that if there were too few of them, I should
give serious thought to attempting to combine them with the other
strong hive..or, as someone stated here not too long ago..that is not a
good idea, because if there are fewer in number they might be diseased
by something or other..and why take the chance of putting the stronger
hive at risk!
 
What are the thoughts of you experienced folks out there in this type
of situation?
 
Thanks for the input from all of us who may be in nedd of this type
of advice!
 
Al
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