Poly Hive
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2008
- Messages
- 14,094
- Reaction score
- 395
- Location
- Scottish Borders
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 12 and 18 Nucs
Having just read Advisory leaflet #16 I am left puzzled.
It claims that the shook colonies become the strongest but gives no evidence of the experiments that prove this assertion.
I may be being thick on this one but... Given the colony has no notifiable disease, has normal varroa and the usual nosema, what are the benefits?
All I can see is the feeding of more sugar and buying more foundation.
Sterilisation of combs used to be achieved by glacial acetic acid, has that changed and I missed it? A possibility of course.
Numerically losing all the brood from the colony to me makes no sense, it's like throwing out the baby with the bath water. How can a colony with say 6 frames of brood with potentially thousands of new workers about to hatch become stronger by losing them?
Frankly this one leaves me bemused and far from convinced.
Please note I am NOT discussing colonies with EFB. Put that argument to one side, I am talking about a normal situation.
PH
It claims that the shook colonies become the strongest but gives no evidence of the experiments that prove this assertion.
I may be being thick on this one but... Given the colony has no notifiable disease, has normal varroa and the usual nosema, what are the benefits?
All I can see is the feeding of more sugar and buying more foundation.
Sterilisation of combs used to be achieved by glacial acetic acid, has that changed and I missed it? A possibility of course.
Numerically losing all the brood from the colony to me makes no sense, it's like throwing out the baby with the bath water. How can a colony with say 6 frames of brood with potentially thousands of new workers about to hatch become stronger by losing them?
Frankly this one leaves me bemused and far from convinced.
Please note I am NOT discussing colonies with EFB. Put that argument to one side, I am talking about a normal situation.
PH