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General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #9407  by Chrisbarlow
 02 Nov 2020, 18:10
@Patrick πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»
 #9415  by Alfred
 03 Nov 2020, 17:45
I've seen American blogs where they have a wire mesh crown board which is taken onto a kitchen worktop then hot sugar fondant is poured.
Once set, it is placed under the regular crownboard.
I've not heard of it being used in the uk- perhaps it's too much faff for the sake of being clever. Top beespace could be another reason??
 #9416  by Patrick
 03 Nov 2020, 21:20
In Kendal they make large slabs of sugar candy and add peppermint.

Sorry 😎.
 #9419  by mikemadf
 04 Nov 2020, 14:39
I run Langstroth jumbos *equivalent to double brood.
QE above so quuen limited to one box.

In summer box has 10 frames brood. But come August - when weather here cools and it usually is wet - except 2018- there are brood breaks and numbers decline into autumn.

I would put QE over the double brood mid summer and restrict queen laying..

You may have hives that require 2-3 times the normal stores to overwinter - especially if they are wood not poly.. so up to 100kg!
 #9420  by Patrick
 05 Nov 2020, 09:29
Out of interest Mike, do you autumn feed into just the single (Langstroth Jumbo) brood box?
 #9421  by mikemadf
 05 Nov 2020, 11:01
Hi Patrick.
I nadir a wet super under the Brood Box. It is always empty by Christmas The feed goes into the Brood Box. I stop when the weight (excl roof) exceeds c 32kg.
 #9425  by Sipa
 06 Nov 2020, 11:34
A lot of Italian beekeepers cage queens for a month in August or September to force a brood break in an effort to reduce the varroa load.
Perhaps doing the same could have a double benefit for you, reducing colony size and varroa ?
 #9426  by Chrisbarlow
 06 Nov 2020, 12:10
Sipa wrote: ↑
06 Nov 2020, 11:34
A lot of Italian beekeepers cage queens for a month in August or September to force a brood break in an effort to reduce the varroa load.
Perhaps doing the same could have a double benefit for you, reducing colony size and varroa ?
That's an interesting concept. I take it that the queen is caged and left in her own colony and just released after 4weeks and she is fine?
 #9428  by Sipa
 06 Nov 2020, 13:46
Yes, queen is caged and left in her own colony. She will be fed and groomed by her cohort as usual.
She is then released back into the colony after the four week break.

I have some further reading stashed away on this somewhere, I'll post when i find it.
 #9429  by Sipa
 06 Nov 2020, 13:49
This should wet your appetite.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-017-0526-2