Drone foundation

[BKF Admin]

Do you add drone foundation to your hives or just remove drone comb as its
found for Varoa control ?

Last year I just removed it from the bottom of the frames when doing an inspection.

 

[Finman]

.
My opinion is that drone foundation is too much. Drone brood cycle is 4 weeks. Mites go into brood just before capping. The comb catches mites only a limited time if all brood are same age.

If you have 10 brood frame and 2 are for drone, it affects seriously to honey yiel: Are those 20% of combs for foragers or for drones?

I leave 1/3 of langtsroth frame without foundation and bees made free drone combs. When capped, I cut it away and bees may do combs again.

 

[Heather]

Similar - I use a super frame amongst the brood frames - they always utilise that for drone laying and inspection and possible cull is easier.

 

[Poly Hive]

Bees have a requirement for an area of drone brood sometimes quoted at 10-20%

On poly hives there is a "well" in the floor which provides that opportunity for them to build it.

for the beekeeper it gives the chance to cut off said drone comb and dump from the colony a good proportion of varroa.

On wooden hives there is nothing stopping floors to be built with a gap of say 30mm giving the bees the chance to do the same.

PH

 

[Finman]

On poly hives there is a "well" in the floor which provides that opportunity for them to build it.

PH

If it is in lowest place, it is hard job to dig them up during inspection.

 

[BKF Admin]

I think PH may of been talking about below the frame ?
Thats the place my hives build drone comb that I just slice off with the hive tool on each inspection.

 

[Finman]

I think PH may of been talking about below the frame ?
Thats the place my hives build drone comb that I just slice off with the hive tool on each inspection.

If so, it does not work at all. There are few larvae but it does not mean much.

If bees have not special large area of brood, they scatter drone cells here and there. It is better that they are in couple special zone.
The brood area is much more tidy when they have drone brood zones.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I agree with Finman,better to have an area just for drone removal,like Heather,which is the same as i also do. Letting bee's build drone on the bottom of brood frames is a messy and inefficient way.

 

[BKF Admin]

So is it a good idea to have a super frame in each brood box ?

What would be the best palce for it ? as a last frame ?

 

[Finman]

.
I use normal frame but I put super foundation in it.

I keep often two drone areas that they devide brood area in 3 equal parts. Idea is to invite mites into cells.

It is better that they are in different stage to catch mites.

 

[Poly Hive]

I found it an efficient and tidy system.

Each to their own though.

PH

 

[mikethebee]

Haaaaa tis a good thing cutting out drone comb if you *remember*?
?If you forget? to cut them varroas out, them is going to devastate all your hives and yer surrounding village town city and the world. thee has bin warned.
All the best mike

 

[Hivemaker.]

You bin eating too much of that fondant Mike.

 

[Finman]

“If you forget” to cut them varroas out, them is going to devastate all your hives and yer surrounding village town city and the world. thee has bin warned.
All the best mike

YeaH YeaH. I have better to do now!

 

[BKF Admin]

I am so tempted to show my grandkids that picture that a nice man from the place Father Christmas lives sent me.

 

[Finman]

I am so tempted to show my grandkids that picture that a nice man from the place Father Christmas lives sent me.

Please, show it after Christmas

 

[Bcrazy]

With reference to creating zones for drone larvae to entice the mites into, I used to use a super frame and let the bees build drone comb beneath.
During the three years I did this I kept a record of how many mites were found on either side of the comb.

Year 2005 34 mites in total
Year 2006 26 mites in total
Year 2007 15 mites in total Yes I did every cell on the extracted comb as I wanted precise numbers.

Now I do not bother with drone comb for enticing the mites, I leave that to the bees to draw drone comb and use a capping fork to see if there are any mites in the cell.

I have one hive specifically for drone rearing. This has two frames of drone comb and the queen (Bless her cotton sox) does not lay else where in the brood chamber. With this hive I periodically cut out about a 4 inch square and check every cell. The bees soon rebuild the empty space.

This way of checking for mites is my way of dealing with Varroa and I do not always bother doing a mite count, naughty I know.

Regards;

 

[BKF Admin]

I have read that its a waste of time to keep removing Drone brood because the bees will just keep on wasting energy producing Drones until a certain number is reached,so rather than destroy the brood its only worth opening a few to check for mites ?

 

[Finman]

I have read that its a waste of time to keep removing Drone brood because the bees will just keep on wasting energy producing Drones until a certain number is reached,?

That is mere rubbish wroten by top bar people because they cannot control number of drone cells.

When you look real researches, there are variations in drone brood areas.
And if you have kept bees, you see yourself how they make it.

 

[Finman]

.http://www.apidologie.org/index.php...articles/apido/abs/2002/01/Seeley/Seeley.html

The effect of drone comb on a honey bee colony's production of honey
Thomas D. Seeley

Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
(Received 15 May 2001; revised 28 August 2001; accepted 16 November 2001)

Abstract
This study examined the impact on a colony's honey production of providing it with a natural amount (20%) of drone comb. Over 3 summers, for the period mid May to late August, I measured the weight gains of 10 colonies, 5 with drone comb and 5 without it. Colonies with drone comb gained only 25.2 16.0 kg whereas those without drone comb gained 48.8 14.8 kg. Colonies with drone comb also had a higher mean rate of drone flights and a lower incidence of drone comb building. The lower honey yield of colonies with drone comb apparently arises, at least in part, because drone comb fosters drone rearing and the rearing and maintenance of drones is costly. I suggest that providing colonies with drone comb, as part of a program of controlling Varroa destructor without pesticides, may still be desirable since killing drone brood to kill mites may largely eliminate the negative effect of drone comb on honey yields.