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Thread: 2011 varroa levels

  1. #61
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Beekeepers certainly have to be smarter than they used to be.
    My father's generation just lifted the supers on and off and caught as many swarms as they could, although acarine used to be much more of a problem in the good old days.
    Not many beekeepers cull drone brood. I rarely do unless I have a dodgy colony which i don't want making drones.
    Roger Patterson always asks his audience who culls drone brood and he says you don't get many hands in the air.
    The extra couple of days the drone brood is sealed makes a big difference to the average number of viable mites raised per foundress mite.

    And my mantra for ages has been that good management of varroa and nosema means that you should have healthy bees.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    Hi Jon,
    no traces of any pesticides in either wax or brood according to Keele University.
    Bad talk Jimbo. You must be on the payroll of the evil empire same as Gavin and the man from Bristol!
    Last edited by Jon; 23-05-2012 at 02:53 PM.

  2. #62
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    I generally cull the first drone cells of the season and then rely on uncapping to monitor after that, not much help if you keep removing it all I also think that continually chopping out drones isn't helpful except in rare circumstances, they want to raise drones so continually preventing them from doing that adds a stress factor to the colony.

    I do tend to make a point that foundation comes in packs of 10 which is perfect for leaving a foundationless frame for them to raise drones in.
    Last edited by Neils; 23-05-2012 at 02:58 PM.

  3. #63
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    Ok Jon I confess. I have been on the payroll of the evil empire. I have done some work in the past for various chemical companies. Not for apiculture or agriculture but for human medical research. Does that still make me evil?

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