Re: hive loss question

"Meself" <gpTAKE@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Thanks - you summarized my question nicely.  :-)
>
> As it turns out, I misunderstood his e-mail.  The hive that was lost was

> the one with the 3/8" spacing, and so his working theory is that there
was 
> less room to clear the dead bees, and that perhaps in a colder climate 
> there is more die-off, so a larger space there might help clear the dead

> bees.  So although I got it backwards, I would appreciate it if anyone
who 
> knows can please explain why 3/4" baseboard spacing in a cold climate
may 
> be better than 3/8".


No clue.  Never heard this before.  One of my hives has a half-ass 
home-made-in-a-panic bottom board that is lower than the stock ones
because 
I can't get a boardman feeder into it....they survived just as well as the

other hives - in fact they had less stores than the other two because they

were a late swarm.

I would tell your friend to look for other causes - AFB? Varroa?

-- 
Dominic Richens | knob@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"If you're not *outraged*, you're not paying attention!"