> I was rereading Michael Moroneys posting of a few days ago which > mentioned ANP comb. I had intended to ask about that then, but it got > over looked. Briefly, what exactly is ANP comb? It's a plastic brood comb (uses standard 9" wooden frames) that supposedly fights Varroa mites by preventing them from breeding. It is unusual in that the tops of each cell is standard worker-sized with thick walls. The bottom (at center rib) of each cell is rather larger, almost the size of drone cells, and the walls smoothly taper. Supposedly the brood develop faster in these cells because the bees tend to supply the young brood with more royal jelly than normally in early feeding, and this disallows varroa from getting enough chance to develop in the cells themselves. Also the plastic causes the varroa to slip and fall, and the cells are easier for the cleaners to clean. A local beekeeper who runs a small bee supply company swears by them as if they were God's gift to beekeepers. He is an old farmer type and not the type of person who I'd expect to praise them just to make a buck (although the ones he sells go for $$$$). I was suspicious of the fact that I never see them mentioned here but I decided to try 20 frames anyway. If they work they're cheaper than a package every spring. Dadant used to sell them but since have discontinued them (more reason to be suspicious) Anyway, I already mentioned the "missing queen" mystery when I tried to transfer a hive to ANP comb according to their directions. After that I decided to just put the frames in the hives above everything so they'd pick up the hive odor and hopefully be accepted when I try again later. (they had a definite "new plastic" smell when I got them) So far bees have been mostly avoiding them, with the queen even skipping over a frame in the brood nest entirely to go to the next (wax) frame. My guess is they'll work - if you can convince the bees to use them. Given a choice between them and wax they'll probably choose wax every time, so a queen excluder is probably mandatory. Send me your snail mail address if you want a set of directions that come with them. -Mike