>As varroa approaches us here, we need to start to (re)think a few
>things and maybe give smaller BC's a try - for purposes of mite
>control, if nothing else.
 
What seems to have happened here in central Calif. is that varroa has
somehow caused the bees to plug the BC's with honey, and that means full
second stories with very little brood. I have been using 2 story BC's for
25 years, and until now it has always seemed to be the right thing to do.
It used to be in the fall that the lightest hives were the weakest, but now
all the hives are super heavy, and the heaviest are the weakest. I am
joining the others here in going to single story. I don't think this would
apply in the northern climates unless the same plugging of the BC's happens
up there too. My BC's are so plugged that most of them need to be relieved
just to enable adequate brood production in the new year. There is no way
in this climate that they will use up enough honey before spring to open up
the BC's enough for the populations to build up optimally.
 
Mark Jensen-Double J Apiaries           [log in to unmask]
Los Altos Hills, CA, USA                     fax 415 941 3488