At 09:03 AM 3/13/02 -0500, you wrote:

>>This issue could be answered once and for all in one season
>
Peter wrote:
this is one of those things that will *never* be answered, for the simple
fact that bees deal with things like queen excluders and bottom supering,
and frame size, etc. differently *depending of honey flow conditions* which
vary from one locale to another and vary from one year to another.


It is precisely for this reason that the answer cannot be established using
a few sites in one region.  If we ran lots of sites, each serving as its
own reference and treatment, and if they are spread across very different
geographic areas, climates, forage types, etc., we have a very good chance
of statistically resolving the issue.  However, by RESOLVE I don't mean
that we will necessarily show that one brood nest/excluder combination (Top
versus Bottom) is better or that excluders hinder honey production.  If
across 100 sites and 3000 hives we get NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE, then
Peter is correct, other variables are more important.  But if the excluder
truly does make a difference, this approach should be able to detect it.
And, we can do more advanced analyses to look at variables such as climatic
zones, etc.


The example of two guys with 300 hives showing no difference dispite
different management approaches simply says that the management strategies
being compared in that area did not make a difference in honey production -
my guess, both were ok as far as the bees were concerned.  In that case,
floral availability or some other factor would have driven honey production.



But, compare two beekeepers with similar management strategies in two very
different regions (say New York with the Peace River valley, and you will
see a difference in honey production.  Now, have both of these beekeepers
try the queen excluder trial, and we would have a better idea of  whether
excluders have an effect, but we still need more sites to really address
the question.



I'll draft a plan.  Cheeers






Jerry J. Bromenshenk
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http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees