I've been thinking, which my wife says it means I'm about to get into trouble. I built my hive boxes as Langstroth 10 frames because that seemed to be the most popular design and frames, parts, etc. seemed standardized and readily available. I cheated a little on building the frames thanks to screws and polyurethane glue, but kept what I think is the original Langstroth outer dimensions (the width of the top bar is the same as the tops of the end bars for 2 inches at each end . future frames will not be like that, though they do look cooler from the top) and used wire to secure comb from a cut-out in them.
After listening to you guys, reading some, and playing a little bit; I've changed a few things and considering changing a few more.
The first change was thanks mostly to Ben Framed and Beemaster and that was the addition of a screened bottom board with oil trap for beetles
Another change already made is in the frames. Thanks to Michael Bush's ideas, all the ones not already in use had the inside of the frames cut 45 degrees on both sides to form a 90 degree peak that acts as a comb guide, and the addition of bamboo skewers for extra support for the combs.
His idea of 9 shaved frames in an 8 frame box also intrigues me. After learning more about poly hives thanks to 15th member, I'm considering changing the interior dimensions of my 10 frame boxes to that of 8 frames. While bead styrofoam gives me the creeps, XPS (extruded polystyrene) doesn't if areas the bees might chew are covered with aluminum tape (real aluminum with a peel-off backing, used primarily for ductwork, not run-of-the-mill duct tape). So, the idea is to add aluminum reinforced sheets of XPS as removable inserts on both sides of the box(super-easy). My main reason for doing this is because I'm a bit clumsy and being able to pull them out would immediately give more working room and less chance of banging the frames of bees against each other while working on the hive. (shoulder injuries and trying to do things "normally" sometimes yield unexpected results. Think "drinking problem" in the movie Airplane, but not quite as bad.
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Anyway. Lesgold got me thinking about screened bottom boards for mites again.
As I understand it, a sugar shake for counting mites works by interfering with the mites ability to hold onto the bees.
Having the extra room equivalent to 2 frames removed is a lot, and would allow for spray from the top to reach the entire frame.
I already have a full screen bottom board with a kill pan underneath.
So here's the really weird idea.
Load an old-style powder insecticide air pump sprayer with powdered sugar and fog the frames in turn. (fog, slide the frame over, fog, slide frame over, etc.)
It seems to me that for any chance of effectiveness at all, it would have to be done often, perhaps once a week as maintenance. Because of the short life cycle of the mites, every day for a known infestation, and probably ineffective even then.
So is this just crazy, completely ineffective, and not worth trying? Would the sugar be harmful to brood ? What do ya'll think ? Also, is the XPS insert a bad idea?