Hello Everyone,

All of my small cell colonies have successfully survived the winter. This
is a first in at least a decade! Hive populations are the best I've seen
in years with most having at least one full deep box of bees. No piles of
dead bees. No dinks. No deadouts. These hives will have to be split early
to avoid swarming problems.

I have seen only one mite since the end of last season. I pulled the mite
traps and will no longer count mites.

In summary 16 hives plus some nucs were regressed to small cell. Colony
loses were significant resulting in 4 survivor colonies consisting of one
small hive and 3 dinks. Those hive prospered and were split resulting in
7 exceptional hives even in a time of extreme drought.

Those hives have been able to handle mite immigration from two commercial
operators who operations are riddled with mites and have been reduced by
colony losses. Natural mite fall has been consistent at about 1 mite/week
throughout the season.

Other queens from commercially available stock  were introduced into some
of the small cell hives. They have performed equally well on the small
cell comb.

The evidence for the positive effects of small cell on colony health and
mite resistance is available. The behavior described by the Lusby's with
their bees in Arizona have been seen by others using different bees in
other northern states and countries around the world.

Two types of small cell foundation are readily available and much has
been written about the process. So anyone who chooses can try it.

My next project is to place some of my small cell bees into a top bar
hive and watch what happens. The tbh is built and bees should be
available in two months. It appears that structure and seasonal use of
comb is a very important factor for colony health. Maybe as a moderator
who suggested the tbh trial once intimated that " foundation may not be a
good idea", this should prove very interesting.

Happy TBHing
Dennis Murrell

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