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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Last post by beesnweeds on Today at 12:24:16 am »Obviously, you have confidence in the sugar roll method but I have heard others express differing positions on it. I'd like to know more about the pros and cons on it.I use Dawn dish detergent for a mite wash. 2 tbls. per gallon of water. Sugar rolls are not accurate. Just swirl the bees, dont shake or it gets too soapy. Sampling 300 bees for 6 months is only 1800 bees per colony, thats nothing. More bees die daily from attrition and the sampling saves hundreds of thousands of bees or more in my apiary.
What causes a brood break and how long do they last?
Splits, swarms, or forced brood breaks by caging the queen 14 days. They last as long as there is no capped brood for mites to hide in for an OA treatment.
And lastly, we are still having spring here so our weather is above and below bee flying weather. What do they all do in there when they have no-fly days?I use slatted racks, so on no fly days, or overnight, foragers will typically cluster under the rack unless its hot out, then they will cluster on the outside of the hive even in the rain.