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ocba - Re: [ocba] Queen excluder -- Drone catcher Combo?

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Walter Starks <walterstarks AT icloud.com>
  • To: Thomas Grizzle <griz AT mindspring.com>
  • Cc: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Queen excluder -- Drone catcher Combo?
  • Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2017 17:52:55 -0400

Yes, queen excluders tend to trap drones as you observed.

______

Walter


You never can tell with bees. ~ Winnie-the-Pooh

On Apr 3, 2017, at 5:34 PM, Thomas Grizzle <griz AT mindspring.com> wrote:

Hi all,

 

I was putting some MAQS into a hive today (FYI, mite count was 7) and the queen excluder that is between my two deeps had 30-40 dead drones captured in the excluder.  It appeared their heads and thoraxes fit through, abdomens did not as they were headed out to another day of drone congregating and they somehow became stuck there and perished of a broken heart.  Has anyone else seen loads of drones stuck in their queen excluders?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset about it, more curious than anything.

 

I’m a 5 year beekeeper and I went from three hives down to one over the winter.  The only other time I’d lost a hive was a split that never really got its act together and died of starvation over a winter (with lots of honey nearby), so I bee in mourning.  I think this year, both hives were ultimately killed by the downstream effects of mites.  I can elaborate, but I will spare you as some are probably also suffering the same fate.  I treated with MAQS twice in 2016, once in March before the nectar flow and once in late August during a coolish spell.  Then in December I did three oxalic acid treatments at one week intervals when there was very little brood.  That’s what I did, right or wrong…

 

I re-queened a one (now dead) hive a month back but she did not make it.  I took down the hive and started a nuc with a frame of eggs and a load of bees.  Then I am buying another nuc from a friend which has a laying queen, so I’m back up to three pretty soon, but only one hive that will be bringing in honey, the drone-killing hive.

 

Tom Grizzle

 

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