Dennis:
The first season on small cell without treatments, brings
an increase in brood and in mites as the bee mite
relationship develops. And significant colony loses are
experienced between the first and second season. Her
experience is right on track and to be expected.

Reply:
Yes, increase in brood, and increased mites from
equalization, in that there is no longer drone cells
artificially spreading things out, so when broodnest
turnover time comes first fall, the varroa transfer from
drone to workercell is real for the first time, for 1st
year cycle on SC for the bees to then deal with, which can
result with whole sheets of brood uncapped by the bees then
working on the varroa. This transfer of mites also, comes
from three sources then, the first inside the colony and
the second from within the same apiary, and the third from
nearby apiaries within flight radius. 

 Also, significant colony loses are to be experienced, as
when even we/I did it originally, we were told up front by
scientists, to expect 90% losses due to today's
artificially hybridized bees not being able to readapt to
natural conditions again, for fitting back into a real
world due to todays' artificial systems they are raised
upon (IA and closed population), so you learn to let the
unadaptable die, period, that man has created, instead of
what will work in Nature. Not to say all will die, but a
large majority many times will.

But in saying this above, this is with normally no shifting
of queens and going thru the process of drawing out
foundation for the whole first year which extends the time
frame. Now, with HSC new fully drawnout, things have
changed a little for instant regression down for starting
nucs,(which I recommend for starting nucs only and not
whole hives unlike the waxed base SC foundation). This
gives faster turn around time for starting hives if used
from early spring forward, to filter the mites out from
fist cycle of brood for the whole active first year, rather
then slowly growing into it throughout the first year as
you fight to get combs drawn right with a 4.9mm top
tolerance and culling of combs with positioning. You also
then need to shift queen for local mating which can be done
sooner also, so you have more naturally climatically 
adapted bees for your area for first winter carry over
also. This should be done not later then beginning first
main flow IMPOV, so drones then produced are mated smaller,
and more naturally in size to smaller queens,so then mated
more in tune with Natural sizing parameters of which there
is a specturm by latitude and altitude.

So, so far with experiment being done by Berry, it is like
said above, seeing what has been seen in past by many
others already going that fork, but now needs to be
continued for another 3-5 years to see it thru, like has
already been done in Sweden and Norway and many parts of EU
mainland, besides beekeepers here in various parts of USA.

Sincerely,

Dee A. Lusby 


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ 

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************