Time to ramble again (2:26 AM)...
 
> Ever wonder why the strong colonies seem to remain strong, even when
> you pull brood, and the weak and slow ones never seem to get going, even
> when you add brood?  Our electronic systems suggest the the strong get
> stronger and the weak get weaker, with the weak drifting to the strong.
> Interestingly, this scenario is colony specific, but not place
> specific.
 
This is the bane of the commercial beekeeper with 20 to 40 hives per yard.
 Over the years we have tried numerous ideas to reduce the uneveness that
results from selective drifting:
 
Ever notice that you combine two weak colonies and you get one weak
colony?  :(  It often doesn't pay to combine weak with weak.  May this
explains it in part?
 
We've noticed that using auger holes in the front of brood boxes seems to
reduce -- or at least even out -- drifting as much as anything especially
in spring, when some hives tend to have more entrance activity than
others, and thus attract more returning bees.  Having auger holes close
to the brood area allows weaker colonies to have sufficient entrance
activity to have a fair chance to attract their share of returning bees
and reduces the advantage that strong colonies have on marginal flying
days.
 
The auger holes do not have to be large and can be partially restricted
with wax or a plug but it does help if they all appear similar to
returning bees.  Any variation in placement or appearance of the auger
holes from hive to hive may cause bees to hover to consider -- and perhaps
go elsewhere.  The appearance characteristics of the hole itself seem more
important than the actual colour of the box in which it is drilled from a
drifting point of view.  I know this seems to run counter to the idea of
painting different colours around entrances, but in my experience, there
is something about a round hole with bee tracking around it that is magic
to bees.  Newly drilled holes do not have the same charm.
 
In newly installed package bees, we've noticed that where one hive has a
small gap or opening in the hive mat (burlap sack, etc.) due to poor
folding or careless placement under the telescoping lid, bees seem to
leave that hive in favour of others.  Why?  Beats me.
 
We've also noticed that if a hive is tipped back and water collects on
the floor sufficiently that unattractive fermentation occurs and smells
in the butyric spectrum are created, that bees will drift seriously to
other hives.  Plastic frame feeders sometimes take on water and stink
(wood& masonite ones don't). This repellant effect occurs also with other
smells, including AFB, which bees find unattractive.  Placing moldy or
smelly combs into package brood chambers at time of brood chamber makup
before installing new bees can result in bees drifting badly immediately
after installing if weather is conducive to flight in the following day or
so.
 
FWIW, years ago, we tried a pollen replacement that an inventor developed
using fish meal and which from nutritional analysis appeared to be the
perfect balanced ration for honeybees.  One problem: when we placed it in
every other hive in a yard to test against other products, the bees were
driven from these hives to neighbouring hives sufficiently to cause
dwindling in the hives receiving the miracle feed.  So much for that idea.
 
This universal tendency for hives to become uneven is one reason that a
hobbyist with a few hives can often outperform commercial neighbours.  In
commercial practice, often with 40 or so hives per yard, it is almost
impossible not to have a noticable number of hives that are n'er-do-wells.
A few hives producing nothing can drastically reduce a yard average.
 
The colour of the brood box itself may also be a factor.  Even in the
case where all boxes appear to be white, the appearance to bees may be
quite different, with some tints being more attractive.  It would be
interesting to change the boxes on these 'collector hives' and see if
that changes their luck.  I've often noticed that bees will be attracted
to a hive in an old weathered box in preference to a shiny new one.
Perhaps temperature may be a factor and bees may prefer to light on a box
that is darker and thus warmer?  Or maybe they have a different set of
esthetic values?
 
Is it the queen and the release of more or less queen substance?  I
wondered about that and even looked up Bee Boost(r) (with QMP) the other
day in response to Jim's post to see if it might have a beneficial
effect. What I read in its promotional literature is that, and I quote:
 
> Bee Boost stimulates hives newly established from package bees or
> nuclei.  during the first two weeks, pollen collection has been shown
> to increase by 80% and brood production by 18%.  Bee Boost applied to
> large hives at other times has not been beneficial
 
I wonder what exactly "not been beneficial" means: deleterious, or just
"not beneficial"?  Hmmm...
 
...Anyhow, this does not disprove the queen attractiveness theory, but
does reduce its appeal a bit.  Maybe the blend of pheremones in Bee Boost
does not include the exact 'secret ingredient' that the theoretical 'super
attractive' queen uses to spirit away the neighbouring bees?  Dunno.
 
While on the subject of Bee Boost(r), I wonder why we are not getting
more chatter about this seemingly significant and fairly new product on
BEE-L.  Are some of you holding out on us?  Are you receiving benefits
from these products and not telling?  Or are they an non-event?  I'd like
to hear from some users about their experiences.
 
FYI: AFAIK, Bee Boost is produced by Phero Tech Inc.  Email:
[log in to unmask]    Doug McCutcheon at 250-546-9870 is listed as
the person to contact for Bee Boost and other bee pheremone products.
Sorry, I can't find an email for him.  Perhaps someone will supply one.
Doug also has a line of bee books, study prints and videos in British
Columbia, Canada.
 
(BTW, Andy, these pheremones were the result of -- AFAIK -- government
funded research at Simon Fraser University.  But it was Canadian $, so I
guess it won't count in the ten we need to empty your pockets. <G>)
 
These lures cost in the neighbourhood of $2 each and might even prove to
be worth the money.  With packages at ~$70 CAD ($49 US$), imagine an
18% boost in package bee brood for $2.   A quick calculation would put the
same result at $12.60 CAD if we were to achieve it with more package
bees and hives -- and in that case more labour and equipment would be
required.   I wonder if the bees can keep it up for long?  Or do they burn
out and crater later -- sorta like steroids for bees?"   Wonder how good
the trials were... Hmmm...
 
Allen