>snip<
>Two questions. I placed a couple of 4inch chunks of apistan treated
>honeycomb on the topboard(under  the cap).
>snip<
 
What is apistan treated honeycomb?  I have never heard of this method of
treating for mites.  I thought the only proper method of using Apistan was
putting the strips in the hive.  The fluvalinate in Apistan is not
water-soluble and will not get into honey, so I'm not sure how you could
"treat" honeycomb with it.   I also thought that fluvalinate (the miticide in
Apistan) was topical.  The bees are supposed to rub against it, not eat it.
 Eating it wouldn't help the bees any.
 
Other formulations of fluvalinate that are not registered for bees are
water-soluble and will get in the honey.  Did you apply a different
formulation of fluvalinate to this honeycomb?  I have heard of people using
other formulations in their hives.  At the risk of sounding like a nag:
 DON'T PUT FLUVALINATE IN YOUR HIVES UNLESS IT COMES IN THE APISTAN
STRIPS!!!!!  The other formulations get into honey.  You will end up with
contaminated honey.  Do you want honey with poison in it?  The last thing the
industry needs is a contaminated honey scare.
 
Non-Apistan fluvalinate also helps create fluvalinate-resistant mites.   This
is another last thing the industry needs.  Case in point:  Italy can't treat
with fluvalinate any more.  The mites are resistant.  Italian beekeepers used
fluvalinate that wasn't registered for bees.  They thought they'd save a few
bucks....
 
Just buy the Apistan and use it.  It's not expensive.  At current retail
prices for small quantities, the Apistan will probably cost about $10.00 per
year per hive (2 treatments of 2 strips each).
 
Sorry to make a big deal out of this, particularly since I'm not sure what
you meant by "apistan treated honeycomb" (those wild guesses always get me
into trouble!).  I just worry about the consequences of using poisons
incorrectly.
 
As for your other questions, feeding a swarm is always a good idea.  It gives
them a jumpstart.  And there is no problem having both hives together on the
roof.  You could have put them closer together if you wanted.  Our locations
often have hives less than 2 feet apart, with no problem.  If there is no
honey flow and the bees are robbing, it doesn't matter if the hives are 2,
10, 30 or 40 feet apart--the robbers are perfectly happy to fly that far.
 Reducing the entrance on a weak hive will help them defend against robbers.
 
Shawna Roberts
Gypsy Bees
Hollister, California