>
> >Interesting to look at how others in the world manage their bees.


That is quite an understatement, Justin!

Beekeepers tend to copy others, and to stick to old ways.  Few actually
perform any sort of rigorous comparison of management techniques.  So just
because there is a common practice in a country, that doesn't necessarily
mean that there is actually any wisdom involved.

>To which he shrugged, and told me maybe that's why we're having such a
hard time keeping our bees alive.

There is a substantial cost to the shook swarm method--the colony suffers
from a minimum 21-day brood break during spring buildup, plus needs to
build far more comb.  Guler found that the method (without syrup feeding to
the shook colony) resulted in far less honey production (1.5x as much in
the unshook hives).

Although shaking one's bees onto fresh foundation (or foundationless, as
with Guler) may result in cleaner combs and produce a varroa break, it
clearly comes at a cost.

 Ahmet Guler (2008) The effects of the shook swarm technique on honey bee
(Apis mellifera L.) colony productivity and honey quality, Journal of
Apicultural Research, 47:1, 27-34, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2008.11101420

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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