Janet L.Wilson wrote:
> On the topic of queen caging: here in northern, short-summer areas, particularly those with limited nectar flows, queen caging is not an option...or at least is not a good option

On the contrary. It was discussed here earlier about Dr. Ralph Buchler's 4 part lecture at the National Honey show, (which many here flatly discounted without watching a minute of it) in which his study not only concluded the effectiveness of
queen caging 3 weeks prior to the end of YOUR honey flow (as well as pulling brood frames) as part of varroa control, but also documented an INCREASE in honey production from those colonies in apiaries across Europe.
The lecture series has all the data, charts and graphs to back it up. As he detailed, the lack of nurse bees and brood consuming the nectar leaves the remaining bees to do nothing more than collect nectar and store..
which is why the hives increased yeild. After release, the Queen goes into immediate colony panic mode laying plenty for fall build up.  The conclusions on varroa control and increased honey yield should perk up the ears of any commercial
beekeeper to at least want to hear more.
I highly recommend taking the time to watch the lecture series in these cold winter days before busy spring arrives.


-- 
Kevin McMahon
  

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