I just had a bit of feedback from our Sunday Bee Club meeting in Milton, Wisconsin, which is about 25 miles north of the Illinois line near Rockford. We get drifting snows in the winter, and down to around -20 degrees F (-15 C?) Our club has three club hives that we started this year on drawn comb on Duragilt or similar plastic foundation. They produced about 175 pounds this year which we sold at $.90 per pound. We had a "healthy" discussion Sunday on whether to wrap the hives, with some interesting inputs. There was concern that the plastic frames would conduct heat away from the cluster, thus would need the extra wrap to help keep in the heat. (There were even some people there who owned aluminum frames which did the same. Museum pieces?) Some always wrap, some never do, and some think about it... We decided, (taking a tip from the Minnesota club cited in the bee mags,) to experiment, and not wrap one, wrap one in tarpaper, and do one with styrofoam boards all around, held on by rubber strips from tire inner tubes. All have top entrance holes drilled, though some people are moving away from that. We'll letcha know how they do... There was another suggestion, that being in a club allows, that we pool our resources and get the 25%+ quantity discount on Apistan (fluvalinate) strips, as we do on oxytetracycline (terramyacin.) We're a small club, but membership has its benefits!!! We have a regular "Bees in Cyberspace" feature at the meeting, of which your inputs are a big part. Thank you all very much! They appreciated your inputs from the essential oils discussion here, in particular. Other feedback: -- on latex gloves vs leather, etc. Get cheap cotton gloves and your hands won't get so hot. Keep latex ones for handling Apistan. -- shop around for wintergreen or other oils. We have paid from $2 to $5 for the same (small) size bottle of wintergreen. There may be a price difference in the natural stuff vs methyl salicylate, (which is chemically supposed to be the same stuff.) The club may buy this in quantity next spring, (though there was some concern expressed about adding yet another "chemical" to the hive that we take "pure" honey from! I think it will take a couple of years before the verdict is in on oils.) -- nobody used frame grips... -- on solar wax melters. Line them with freezer paper to make cleanup much easier. Use thick glass to minimize breakage. Insulate well and they work fine even on cool days. -- on melting wax for candles, etc. MINIMIZE the heat! Cooking it darkens the wax and leaves a dark residue if a double boiler is not used. Separate your cappings wax, especially if mechanical uncappers (which cut to the same level every year) are used, as it will be new wax each year, and much cleaner. -- we raffled off a bottle of fine mead that was donated, and raised yet another $10 for the club coffers! -- It was noted that the "manometer" hive scale won't work around here in the winter unless plenty of antifreeze was added!!! ;-) Happy Beeing! (dat's me!) Gerry and the other Visels at [log in to unmask]