Robert Rice <[log in to unmask]> wrote
>If everyone adopted the habit of recycling brood combs on a 5 or 6 year
>basis then there would be a lot less disease in our hives and
>consequently a lot less chemical control. For all diseases there is a
>minimal infective dose which must be reached before a disease will
>establish itself. If you can stay below this thresh hold then a disease
>outbreak is highly unlikely.
What a rush! I was really pleased to see this post!! The view has always
been,' the queen prefers to lay in dark comb' and through the years I have
seen some disgustingly black stuff. We try to change one third every year.
Last year we had a speaker from Denmark who is on the Buckfast
breeding program, and they change all frames every year. Mind you they also
have a steam cleaning process where they send all their boxes and frames for
de-waxing and cleaning. The wax is then recycled into foundation.
****************************************************
* David Eyre 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2, *
* The Beeworks, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1. *
* [log in to unmask] 705-326-7171 *
* http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks *
* Agents for: E H Thorne & B J Sherriff UK. *
****************************************************