> I must say that is a very creative solution. I hope you didn't make a
> joke and i make a complete fool of myself now.

Nope, that's how we check populations: tip the hive forward and look under,
and how we separate glued-up boxes: lay the hive on its front and then
pry -- less lifting.

When we used to scrape topbars, we used to roll the hives onto their fronts,
since the bees don't boil up unto the top bars when in that postion.  From
there it is just another quick roll to invert the hive, especially if you
have a pallet or some such platform to match the floor height.

> But wouldn't the bees go berzerk (just like they do when i break the
> boxes apart)? I suspect my bees would anyway. Berzerk bees in the
> late fall are no fun, because they rather walk than fly and they tend
> to walk as far inside your overall as possible and then get stuck and
> sting.

Not really, assuming you choose your time and conditions well.  I would
expect that, with a little smoke, used wisely, and pre-emptively, that very
little activity would result.

> How would you ensure the boxes don't come apart when you turn the
> hive over? Do yhou think the propolis would be enough?

On my hives it almost always was, but lots of people scrape everything so
that it looks new.  I always figured the bees like it a bit gummed up and
left it pretty much that way.  If the equipment comes apart easily, why
invert it?  Just lift the second aside and treat from the top.  I was
assuming the case where separating the boxes could be difficult and
disruptive.

> I have tried oxalic dripping two years in a row and apart from having
> to disturb the bees in the late fall, it's really simple. However,
> it's common  knowledge that it's not enough to keep the mite levels
> down. It has to be combined with other methods (sorry if i'm stating
> a well known fact to you experts here). I have also been removing
> drone brood in the spring.

I think that this varies with a lot of factors and perhaps region.  Some
strains, like impure Russian or SMR crosses might be fine with one annual
treatment, if indicated by monitoring.  Each beekeeper needs to monitor mite
levels.  The problem with drizzling oxalic, is that I understand that it
cannot be repeated several times in the fall without compromising wintering
success.

For that reason, many are looking at oxalic evaporation, which has a
lingering effect, and also can be repeated without apparent damage to the
bees.

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

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