Still want to know if anyone out there has tried Mel Disselkoen's method and not found it to help much in outbreeding mites, or if you feel there are flaws with his method. John
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Still want to know if anyone out there has tried Mel Disselkoen's method and not found it to help much in outbreeding mites, or if you feel there are flaws with his method. John
Nice picture Adrian.
And just to clarify, I wasn't putting down on wrapping with styrofoam. I have about 30 hives, and am buying 75 singles in the spring. That would be too much foam to handle and store.
I've been out of bees awhile before this year, but have overwintered hives 14 years on the 38th parallel with no wrap of any kind.
This is my first crack at nucs, before the internet, I would have not thought it possible. I agree that nucs need more protection.
After my first season trying Mel's methods, I did not get the expected results because I didn't have all drawn comb. I think it is worth a try if you have the comb to support it. You can't outbreed mites if the queen is waiting on comb builders.Quote:
Originally Posted by jmgi
Don, drawn comb is almost as good as gold, you can never have too much of it either brood or honey storage. I've been there myself in the past and it can really slow down what you are trying accomplish, or I should say what the bees are trying to accomplish. John
If you start a nuc with the intent on building up drawn comb, what do you do with it? Can you store it, or do you need to put it on a stronger hive?
You'll get a lot of different advice on this one. Once a hard freeze kills the wax moths, you can just store them outside or in an unheated area. Some use Para moth balls until then, some use BT for sale here in the for sale forum, some store over or under strong hives, others just don't take it off until late in the season. I've personally just used Para moth balls then remove them when hard winter sets in, but BT would be a better choice for those more critical of wax contamination.Quote:
Originally Posted by bnm1000
And John is right, drawn comb is beekeeper gold.