# Small Cell Beekeeping Poll



## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

This poll is designed to query beekeepers about their interest and experience with small cell beekeeping.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I just saw the number of respondents jump by four. All four say they have been doing small cell for 0 years and 3 of them say they have 0 hives on it. 3 of them say they have no mite tolerance and all 4 said there was no difference in other aspects. 2 of those say they will continue and 2 say they will abandon.

I'm afriad those answers don't make consistent sense to me.

If you have 0 hives for 0 years on small cell and notice 0 difference and have 0 mite tolerance, what does that mean?

Perhaps some of those voters could clarify for me? You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I would like to understand what that means.


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## db_land (Aug 29, 2003)

MB, I just voted:
1) Interested in small cell? YES.
All the other questions assume one has already tried sc for years. My answer is 0 years, because I'm just starting (other than feral colonies and combs). The other sc questions don't provide a "no experience" type answer option - so the most truthful response is 0. I selected "continue" for the last question.

Dennis, I like the idea of your poll but maybe you need to redesign the questions/answers a little to get more accurate results.


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

Micheal:

Same here.

peggjam


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

Ditto. I tried leaving the last ones blank, but it wouldn't accept that, so I don't know if my response got counted or not.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Well, I tried to post another poll, but I'm learning a lot about polls. One thing I just learned is you can't see the results unless you vote. Another is that you can't leave a category blank.

If I had it to do again, I think I'd add a choice for each for those who just wanted to see the results but didn't really want to vote.

Maybe we'll get the hang of how to do these.


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Did you find something that won't work even if you let it?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I just don't know how to let it.


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

I'm learning about the polls myself. And must confess I did this one in about 10 minutes before I left for work. I didn't know it wouldn't accept a blank answer. Sorry

So far the results confirm what I have seen by tracking hits on my web pages. I can spend lots of time and effort to photograph and measure bees/comb, report on the effects of small cell, etc. and get very few hits.

If I post something about small cell or natural comb, it will get about 30 hits total and then go almost dead. Most of the hits will be from Germany or Sweden.

If I post something about tbhs, it will get about 100 hits total with most of them coming from the US.

But if I post something concerning my oxalic evaporators, it will get 300 hits/day for a week and then trail off to 50 hits/day.

When I look analyze the connections it appears that about 75 different people are actually interested in the bio/small cell aspects at my site. And I suspect some of these are the same person using a work and a personal computer at different times.

There just doesn't appear to be much general interest in biological beekeeping and small cell in particular. And that's too bad.

It will be interesting to see if even 100 out of 2000 people on beesource respond to the poll. I'll bet the number is less than half that. 

Dennis


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

>It will be interesting to see if even 100 out of 2000 people on beesource <snip>

I bet we don't have 200 active people on Beesource.


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## Dick Allen (Sep 4, 2004)

Bill, I wondered about that in the past, myself. 2431 is the number that currently shows up on my screen for 'registered' members. Certainly many people would rather sit in the background and just read other peoples remarks. But 2431 seems an awfully big number for the amount of people who do post messages.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I am also guilty. Went half way through, didn't see appropriate choices to do the poll justice and ended up backing out and escaping.

As for smallcell, I spoke to several suppliers last year to try to get a feel for how sales had been. Several said "what sales". Dadant I believe even discontinued smallcell foundation this year. (The mag says Page 28, but I can not find it.)

I mentioned earlier that last year, I did not run across one beekeeper in four counties, and thats about 300, who was currently using smallcell. And only one had cords and was using FGMO. I will say he had a nice set-up with a drawer and all the latest equipment. Not sure what his treatment schedule was as reccomended by Dr. R, but he had a good number of mites in a sugar roll. (No agenda, just the facts)

Reality is that most do not even know what smallcell is. And if you mention it to them they say they remember something about an article in one of the mags but thats it. Of course I also mention time and time again that the average beekeeper does not do regular mite counts and the like.

"depends" is for people with little control.


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## db_land (Aug 29, 2003)

I found this at Dadant:

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=81&osCsid=f50f20a0998a1009bce21d6d46910031

1 x F46000 4.9MM MEDIUM BROOD SMALL CELL FOUNDATION 25lbs for $181.15

I guess they don't have thesmaller carton anymore. The SC I bought from Dadant was so thin it was difficult to handle without damaging. I think I'll try the SC from Brushy Mountain next.


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## Pugs (Jul 15, 2004)

Well, since I don't even have bees yet, I'm not taking the poll. 

When my bees get here, this weekend maybe next, I'll be putting them on SC and regressing them. Personally I don't see any down side to SC. 

Pugs


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

I expect to see commercial small cell foundation disappear from the market. And that's too bad.

Regards
Dennis


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

Let's run a more useful poll. Submit a few questions and the answers. I'll will attempt to delete this one, a feat never tried before, and build a more suitable one this coming Sunday.

Regards
Dennis


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

I bought a 25# box of SC from dadants last week. Can't wait for the bees to get here!! I don't see any down side to SC either, but I see a BIG downside to chemical treatments. I just don't want to eat honey that has chemicals in it. Even properly treated hives could have a residue left that will get in the honey, (my belief's). Just some thoughts.

peggjam


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## KyBee (Mar 1, 2005)

Hi all:

I haven't clicked on the poll because I'm brand new as well, and won't do any good for the results. I just called to get a rush order of small cell foundation from Brushy Mountain this morning. I thought I could get it anywhere, but I found out I can't. Bees come next Saturday! So I have a week to get the foundation, get it wired, and get it into the frames. I told them I wished they made it wired for people like me. The lady in sales said "Was the other foundation just too heavy for you?" and I said, "no, I'm using it as part of an IPM program for Varroa control." She didn't seem surprised, but I was surprised at her question.

There is one other beekeeper in our association who is using small cell, so that will make two of us in the southern KY region that I know of. Since I'm just starting, I figure it will cost less in the long run to do the regression if I'm starting the new packages on the small cell.

A lot of beekeepers seem to know it exists, but don't understand the point, and further, I think those "For experienced beekeepers only" scare a lot of people away. A lot of the folks I know, say in their own words, "I'm just a country boy and need to keep it simple". In reality, they are as bright as anyone but I think the idea that it's difficult or complex has frightened a lot of folks away at the outset, and they never figure out that regression is a straightforward concept. 

IMHO, the verbiage in the catalogs is self-defeating as far as sales are concerned. I hope the companies don't discontinue and think there's no interest when really there has been no mainstream education and the catalogs are scaring people off.


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## Robert Brenchley (Apr 23, 2000)

Not to mention the fact that the only 'small cell' foundation available in the UK is about 5.1mm! They're not seriously trying to sell it as far as I can see. 

I wasn't too sure how to fill in the poll since I got one lot of bees downsized, lost them due to queen failure, and started afresh last year with a different strain of bees.


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## KyBee (Mar 1, 2005)

Okay regarding question submission, I think mostly you just need to expand the questions you have to separate interest from experience.

As a brainstorm, here are some ideas for the actual questions (not the options that go with them) based on what you already have in place.

Are you interested in Small Cell Beekeeping?
How many hives do you presently operate? (include just starting this will be my first year as an option)
How many hives do you presently have on small cell?
How did you regress the bees? 
Did you use recommended mite control during regression process?
What is your estimated percentage of drop in mite occurrence since beginning small cell operation?
What is the mite count in your small cell hives as compared to large cell hives in the same yard?

Hope this helps with your idea.


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## fat/beeman (Aug 23, 2002)

I been useing small cell for several yrs now and if i din't think it made and difference I wouldn't have bought a 4.9 mill to make my own foundation. and keep out all pesticides out of hive= Don
next time expand poll better


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

fat/beeman:

Where did you buy your mill from? Thanks.

peggjam


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