Randy wrote:
>Has anyone else observed legs and wings on the stickyboard, and if so, did
you figure out the reason?  <

I have permanent 'sticky boards' on my hives made from sheets of white
aluminum flatstock (found in the roofing/flashing part of the hardware
store).  These are cleaned off and recoated with vaseline at each
inspection or as necessary.  Although the principal aim is mite drop
monitoring I find these boards useful in providing a lot more information
on the colonies, such as which areas are being actively used, frames
cleaned/prepped for brood, where wax is being made, pollen stored, where
the cluster is forming, etc etc.

Yes I have several times seen the wings, legs phenomenon and my conclusion
was that it relates to the colony actively clearing out drones, possibly as
they emerge or are evicted from cells prior to normal emergence. Sometimes
there are also whitish exoskeletal parts associated.  This can be a bit
disconcerting as it looks as though a battle has occurred. Once or twice I
thought it may be indicating fighting/robbing, but when high densities of
legs etc were present there was no other evidence of robbing, but I was
seeing a substantial level of drone eviction.  This is speculation in that
I was not able to definitively observe the eviction/dismemberment of drones
occurring but it did seem to fit other observations on what the colonies
were doing.

Rob Hughes
Upper Kingsclear, NB

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