Hi Bill,
Thanks for all that, I was hoping to get a bite from you!
Yeh well like us FNQ'rs are genourous with our time, to a fault even. heh.
That wet period.... there was definitely a connection there for me this season for sure!! I think them
being so congested during the period helps trigger them. Do you cage yours in during the wet?
I am already dreading next year.
Seen plenty of Wets like this one just not of late, well not a monsoon so persistent. Having been raised
on the coast amongst the 'cane those lessons amongst b'kpn came around every year pretty much.
So no, caging happens as part of numbers reduction in late October through November then replaced
by entrance restrictors (full width @4.5mm high) going on maybe the week before Xmas.
They get the message.
2018 caught us out with bushfires raging and then early rains with not enough of a break to get across
creeks to the outyard before the monsoon cone along, so the queens were still caged with the bees
subsequently digging them free. None had absconded though when we were able to get there a few
weeks ago now, a lucky break for us.
Cage and then restrict is standard stuff for us, and I am convinced many others doing a true winter
which is just another type of dearth with clustering, no different really to a prolonged Wet like this one.
Your setup for Karanda reads as just the thing, watch the greenants as those buggers can hone in on
a whim then leave them alone for months. A solid attack over a couple of days will see the bees pingoff.
Can't offer any pointers on poly boxes as whilst I know plenty c'mrcls use them still today we only ever
ran standard FD in wood. Retirement has seen us play with a few new (to us) concepts settling for long
langs (LLTBH) as cutcomb is where we are headed. The two Lang stacks are at the outyard and mainly
for a resource in barrier protection in case the home colonys do go titsup with disease...something that
is getting more likely as each year passes by.
You're aiming high with a MMC-1, Adam... and likely much more time away when you have it - good
money though these days. Our company ran an engineering contract with ASL (Fremantle) on the east
coast and across to Broome including the Gulf so with lots of sea-time I know enough to be a dangerous
bloke at the wheel in shallow waters. The excuberance of youth at the expense of wisdom. heh.
Good Luck with the desk work now.
Cheers.
Bill