Hi all

Allen said...
> I think I should mention, however, that Seeley showed, and we all know,
that
> placing full drone combs into the middle of a brood chamber, even in
> off-centre locations, will diminish crops significantly

Using whole frames of drone foundation in the brood nest can disrupt the
nest significantly, the bees never do this themselves so why should a
beekeeper attempt it?

If you wish to encourage early drones for breeding you can prepare some
frames the previous season, by splicing triangular pieces of drone
foundation into the upper corners of part drawn frames so that they are
drawn and ready as the nest expands the following season.

I have played about with full frames of drone foundation myself, but they
are never as successful as frames that have patches (which is how the bees
do it).

Raising drones for drone sacrifice/varroa management using shallow frames in
deep boxes is not too punitive in terms of lost resources, because the extra
drone raising stimulates extra foraging and is largly compensatory. However
I should say my experiance here is in colonies dedicated to drone raising
rather than honey production.


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman... G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
Email: [log in to unmask] or  [log in to unmask]
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman & http://www.dave-cushman.net

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