KD, here’s another idea for you.
http://www.mitezapper.com/We know how well electricity goes over with beeks!
I have no association with this mitezapper thing, but I thought it would be interesting to throw it into the discussion since it is a new twist on the drone comb idea.
I was over at a bee conference at Michigan State University a week or two ago and talked to the guys who are selling this. I think they said they’re getting their first production batch April 2nd. The zapper was invented by a professor over at MSU. Here’s the professors work published in ABJ in 2001.
www.cyberbee.net/huangpub/2001ABJ.pdf What really amazes me is that it took 10 YEARS to get this thing to market.
My concern with the design was melting the comb along with the drones when you power this thing up in a hive! However the guys claimed that the heat only kills the drones and doesn’t melt the wax. Looking at the design, that looks viable if they regulate the heat accurately.
Like I said, I have no association with this and I’m not endorsing it or not endorsing it. I have no experience with it.