Can you all offer any feedback?

What you plan on doing was done in the early days of varroa control.


 >I trap each queen somehow to keep her from laying
new eggs.  16 days after trapping the queen I use some sort of form
board/vertical queen excluder to limit her to just one frame of drone
brood.

caged queen method developed in Germany (Maul 1983). Drone brood was not
used but might work but not needed for method to work. See below.

>Nine days later that frame of drones should be getting capped and
there shouldn't be any other capped brood in the hive, so I'm speculating
an extremely high percentage of varroa should enter that drone brood.

*trap comb method* (netherlands in early 80's I believe). The idea is to get
to the point the only brood in the hive is under screen marked for removal
(called trap comb).


  >If I then eliminate that drone brood will I actually get an outstanding
varroa kill?

You will get a kill but exactly how outstanding remains to be seen.
The caged queen trap comb method described in bee literature involves
frames of worker brood and not drone brood.

I have never used the methods so can only give a few thoughts. trying to get
the confined queen to lay drones at a time when drones are not needed by the
hive might be problematic . Perhaps why two frames of worker brood is
suggested in the literature. Actually being the only available brood in the
hive I doubt the varroa will be picky.


> Is there a way I can do this without inciting swarming?

I can't see swarming being a problem (or would have been a described problem
in the literature).

 >For my scale the labor seems manageable.

No doubt labor intensive as a varroa control but others have felt worth the
effort.

  >But what other challenges would this method present?

None that we have not discussed in my opinion but maybe a beekeeper which
has used the caged queen trap drone method will comment and possibly add
their variation. Beekeepers always modify most systems to meet their own
needs.

To advance your thoughts to the  most common trap comb method is as follows:

1. the queen is caged on empty comb with excluder screens and moved to
another comb at certain intervals.

2. after 10 days the brood outside the screened cage is sealled completely
so the varroa can reproduce only in the trap comb.

3.if the trap combs are removed at 7 day intervals then the majority of
varroa could possibly be removed after the removal of four trap combs in a
months time period.

Good luck with your project! If you test before and after you should be able
to figure the effiacy of the method.

>What varroa control can be expected from a broodless period even without
drone brood trapping?

A broodless period always slows varroa growth as the varroa are forced onto
adult bees to survive and their reproduction is stopped.

Bob

Ps. I have tried to explain as simply as possible. If you still have
questions please ask.

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