On 18-Dec-08, at 8:38 PM, Grant Gillard wrote:

> Then from mid-July through August, there just ain't much of  
> anything until Labor Day when the golden rod starts blooming.
>
>

Hi Grant Dan and all

Here in my part of southern Ontario our main flow starts the first or  
second week of July and runs till early August.  Goldenrod starts the  
second week of September.  Several years ago I read an article in ABJ  
describing a modification of the Killion method of comb honey  
production.  All uncapped brood with adhering nurse bees is moved to  
a new bottom board and combined with the same from another hive and a  
new queen or queen cell.  The capped brood and all remaining bees are  
contracted into one brood box.  The queen is caged with a push in  
cage over emerging brood.  The timing of this manipulation is  
immediately before the main honey flow in the local area.  The  
author, from the Chicago area, saw the idea as improving honey  
production as workers have no brood to care for and thus leave to  
forage early.  The foraging force would increase as brood emerged.   
He also warned about the possibility of swarming as the hive will be  
crowded. I contacted the author since Dan started this thread to see  
if he has further data, but he has not had bees for some time.  My  
take on the idea is that the break in brood would reduce varroa, the  
new split would likely be strong enough for the fall flow  and  
Randy's idea of a queen excluder enclosing a frame instead of a push- 
in cage is certainly a workable modification.  Any experience or  
comments?

Bob Darrell
Caledon Ontario
Canada
44N(Chicago is 42N)80W

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