Charles wrote:
>Interesting note,  this time of year every one of my white hive lids will have ticks hanging on it looking for a host Many have 3 or 4. The plain wood ones >are empty....  kind of odd.

Here in New Hampshire ticks were particularly bad this year, although the numbers that Erin has been picking off of our pair of non-feral feral cats (what feral cat comes inside to use a litter box?) has dropped off to almost nil from a half dozen or more per day.  I have seen the little buggers sitting atop my hives, waiting for a victim (although not in the numbers you have seen, ugh), but have not noticed a preference for painted vs. non-painted boxes.   I have both, so will look to see if I can see a perceived difference.  Of course, over the years, thanks to splits and the like, many of the stacks are now a mixture of painted and non-painted boxes, so that probably complicates things.  All my hives have metal tops on the telescoping lids; don't know if that makes a difference.  Doesn't seem to matter to the ticks.

Bill
Claremont, NH USA

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