>> I am currently experimenting combining Snelgrove swarm control with
>> Killion methods for comb honey production.

> Could you explain briefly how you are doing this ...

Hi Clay,

I was wondering if anyone would ask.  Well, a problem with the Killion
method is what to do with the box that you've shaken the bees out of.  He
suggests slapping multiple shaken brood chambers together to make a hive of
3 or 4 deeps, leaving that alone through the season to deal with at the end
of the summer.  Instead, I've been shaking the bees into a single deep,
adding the comb supers, putting a Snelgrove board (SgB) on top of the comb
super and then the shaken brood chamber on top of that.

Rather than shaking through the bottom deep two more times as Killion
instructs, I'm experimenting with introducing a new queen into the top deep
on the same day that I shake all the bees into the bottom.  Then when the
queen is released and accepted in the top, I'll switch the two boxes.  I
figure the queen introduction in the top chamber will go well, as most of
the bees will be in the bottom deep, and the remaining bees will be young
nurse bees willing to accept a new queen.  The original queen is initially
in the bottom brood chamber, and she gets moved when I switch the boxes.
After the swap, the bottom box will have a new queen and most of the field
force.  I will have quickly set up a 2-queen hive.

I am not sure how things will go when I switch top and bottom deeps.  It's
possible that the new queen will be "deposed" by the multitudinous
population in the bottom deep.  Snelgrove's writings say the hive smells mix
through the double screen and he claims that the bees mix amicably, but I
have noticed occasional problems in the past with queens disappearing when
the populations mix.

So that's my experiment.  I can't say as I recommend this method, but I'm
giving it a shot.  Another thing to be wary of is having field bees return
above your comb honey supers.  This will happen if you follow Snelgrove's
method of closing the top door and opening the bottom door to transfer the
top field force to the bottom hive.  When you open the bottom door the field
bees will enter at the top of your comb super, and when they do so they will
put pollen in with the comb sections!  I once described a problem with
pollen in my comb honey, and Andy Nachbar diagnosed the problem without
having to ask any of the details.  He was a great beekeeper!  Anyway, if the
bees return above the comb super, they'll put pollen in the sections.  I'm
addressing this by using a wood bound queen excluder into which I notch
entrances that correspond to the bottom door.  When I close the top door, I
open the notch in the queen excluder.  It confuses the bees at first, but
eventually they find the new entrance and adjust accordingly.  The top field
force gets transferred to the bottom brood chamber and the bees enter below
the comb supers.  Hopefully no pollen in the comb sections.

I'm also running comb production hives strictly by the Killion method.  It's
a lot of work, but the results are fantastic.  I'm experimenting as
described looking for an easier way.  If you try this method and it works
for you, I take full credit.  On the other hand if things go horribly wrong,
I deny everything!

Aaron Morris - I think, perhaps too much!

PS: Read the old masters!  Killion, Snelgrove, CC Miller, Doolittle, the
list goes on and on.  Much has changed in keeping bees.  Much has not!