--- Michael Palmer <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I remember you posting on Norland about your > problems. Yes thanks for the kind assistance back then, you helped me a great deal in focusingit the right direction toward a solution. You remember then my average winter die off was an average 50% and fluctuated to 90% to 100% every few years. Yes, I believe you gave very good advice, some major causes were due to lack of TM resistance and substandard genetics. ...Perhaps it isn't > that the bees are > "ferals" but rather that you have found some good > stock. I agree Mike, could be ferals, then again, could be that it is not, I'm open minded here. That I am finding good stock in places where you would not expect much influence from domestics such as the woodlands is perplexing to me, the more isolated the better, it's not what I had expected to see at all in poor forage areas. ...supercedure > queens...good or bad.... ...should be selected for... Is there a particular time of the year these supersedure colonies are more prone to supersede? I have seen this trait in a few colonies that had a perfectly fine queen that was performing well. I just brushed it off as an 'oddity' and did not make record of it. I'm seeing it more in late summer and even nearer to fall. Maybe it would be better to record this type of thing when I see it. If you would please, how is Kirk doing his isolated mating yards?,,,, what;s the ratio mating nucs to does he use drone colonies or regular colonies to provide drones?,,,or do you believe he is counting on the ferals to pick up the slack in providing drones? I might be able to make it to Lewisburg to see Kirk. Would enjoy hearing his lecture. In the past, he > blows the bees out in > the fall in colonies suffering from PMS. The PMS, I am still having trouble with. What tools are you using to determine the level of PMS that would necessitate blowing out the colony? Are you also looking at other symptoms here such as chewing out etc? My colonies are showing signs of PMS, but it dosn;t seem to be affecting performance as it has in the past, I see it, but am still getting a good surplus in spite, but it is something I believe I need to select against. Thanks! Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA Small Cell Beekeeping ‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' http://www.biologicalbeekeeping.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/ __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---