Hi Brian

I have been a long term user of both Cloake Boards and swarm boxes in UK 
conditions... I do not think either is 'better' than the other, but 
there are a few hints that can help whatever system you use.

Do not put cell cups at the extreme ends of the bars, the workers favour 
these less as far as feeding and tending is concerned.

Do not be tempted to put in large numbers of grafts, there comes a point 
at which 'diminishing returns' kicks in.

Feeding freshly trapped pollen (less than three and a half days old) to 
the colonies raising the queens, will pay dividends as far as quality is 
concerned.

A well managed Cloake system can be used for several successive batches 
of queens or for just one single occasion.

The so called 'Vince Cook' variation was actually developed by Harry 
Cloake and allows the cell building colony to be broken down into eight 
or so nucs and is quite a useful method of producing nucs for sale.


-- 
Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://melliferabees.net Email: [log in to unmask]
Short FallBack M/c, Build 7.21/2.01
Son of ORAC M/c, Build 5.o1/2.o1

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