Paul Hosticka writes:

> The idea of treating with a 30 second OAV at every hive inspection
> is compelling. [...] It would add very little to the work load
> [...] But I have honey supers on from April thru Aug. Removing or
> blocking the supers is impractical.

I've been mulling over the idea of a device one could have between
the brood nest and the supers, where one could slide in a temporary
"drawer" when needed to isolate one from the other.  The two design
constraints that are hard to solve are (1) how to do this without
wrecking the bee space and causing the bees to build comb there,
and (2) how to keep the thing closed when the separator is not in
use, without the bees propolizing it "permanently" shut.  So far
I'm stymied.  (Not important - I just think of stuff like this to
amuse myself, or, to be honest, because I can't help it.)

I vaguely recall reading about someone inserting and removing
cardboard between the brood nest and the super, but then, if you
wanted to work quickly and without having to laboriously remove
and re-install the supers, you'd need a tool to "crack open" the
hive at that spot, bearing in mind that the supers might weigh a
couple hundred pounds.  I almost remember seeing such a device in
a catalog, but I can't find it now, so I wonder if I imagined it.

If one *could* "crack open" the hive at that specific place, I
wonder if a piece of newsprint paper would be sufficient isolation
- it needs to last only a few hours, IIUC, after which the OAV has
crystallized, and the paper could be left in the hive for the bees
to clean up, I suspect.


Anne, backyard beekeeper and dreamer of gadgets.

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