Subject: overwintering double queen hives.

From: [email-masked] (jim)
Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 01:57:52 GMT

Reposting article removed by rogue canceller.

Hello.
I have a weak hive (came from a late swarm) that I am going to combine
with another hive. I have read that it is possible to have a hive with
_two_ queens - provided that they are separated by 2 queen excluders.
I would like to find out if :
	a:) anyone has had success with 2 queen hives (as far as their honey
collection over the season goes. which for me it is obviously too late
this year - perhaps next year...) 
	b:) anyone has overwintered such hives and if there is any benefit or
detriment to such hives 

Thanks,
 Jim ([email-masked])

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From: [email-masked] (Allen Dick)
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 96 13:09:45 GMT

>	b:) anyone has overwintered such hives and if there is any benefit or

The usuefulness of any answer to this question is entirely dependant on where 
you live.

Unfortunately people ask questions like this and forget to mention their 
location.

Whether you live in Australia, Russia, Florida, England, or the Northwest 
Territories will determine whether you stand a prayer of success.

In my area you would not stand a chance, but maybe it can work elsewhere.

Regards

Allen

W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                    VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
    Honey, Bees, & Art <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka/>

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From: [email-masked] (Aaron Morris)
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 96 07:51:16 EDT

>        b:) anyone has overwintered such hives and if there is any benefit or
Two queen management is an advanced technique and is only suited to
certain geographic locations, mainly those with short intense flows
(northern temperate climates).  It is a LOT of extra work, produces sky
scraper hives with lots of over your head lifting and precarious ladder
tipping.  All of the two hive references I've read call for breaking the
hive down to a single queen prior to fall/winter.  It's a method I've
tried which yields copious amounts of honey, but given the extra work
and attention needed as compared to a single queen colony, my preference
is to run two single queen colonies vs a single colony with two queens.
My advice: if you're really bent on trying a two queen colony, now
(fall) is not the time to do it.  Plan your experiment for next spring
and spend the winter reading up on the procedure.
_The_Hive_and_the_Honeybee_ has a minimal write up on the procedure.
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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From: [email-masked] (Jim)
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 19:20:00 GMT

>The usuefulness of any answer to this question is entirely dependant on where 

I live in the New York State , USA.

Jim ([email-masked])