Sender: |
|
Subject: |
|
From: |
|
Date: |
Wed, 18 Jun 1997 09:16:29 +0100 |
In-Reply-To: |
|
MIME-Version: |
1.0 |
Reply-To: |
|
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
In article <[log in to unmask]>,
Theda Jeanell Davis <[log in to unmask]> writes
<snip>
>
>1. I have recently noticed bees that have a white or light yellow patch
>of hair?? on the top of their bodies. Appears to be less than 1-2 % of
>the bees have this appearance. Is this natural or does it indicate a
>problem?
>
My guess is that they are newly emerged bees. No Problem.
>2. I just inspected the top brood box. Found plenty of brood and
>honey. I noticed quite a few areas where the comb is not flat with the
>face of the frames. Rather, there are sections of comb where the cells
>are parallel with the face of the frame. What are these? Are they drone
>cells? Is this a problem?
>
It could be that your frame spacing is not quite right. If you are using
frames with Hoffman spacers, make sure that they are pushed up tight
together.
>3. And finally, I followed some of the discussion threads and read some
>books about the pros and cons with using 10 versus 9 frames in the brood
>chambers. I jumped out there and decided to try 9 in order to enhance
>ventilation ( live in Texas and it gets quite warm ). What should I
>monitor to see if this causes a problem or is better for the bees?
You may already be experiencing the problem (see 2). If you are not
using all of the space in a brood box, use a follower board up against
the last frame to keep the area confined. Otherwise, the bees will just
fill up this "dead-space" with comb.
--
Paul Walton
Email : [log in to unmask]
Toddington, Bedfordshire, England.
|
|
|