Dee (along with her late husband, Ed) studied the importance of comb cell diameter in an attempt to keep the hives free of diseases and mites, an important factor when dealing with non-chemical methods of breeding. They were able to identify optimal comb cell diameter for the area that they live (in Southern Arizona) and have converted their operation to a natural system by using the smaller cell size. By doing this, they have discovered and reported the fact that the smaller comb cell size has greatly reduced diseases in the hive, as well as mite infestation in the colonies. They also report that the viability of the brood and the colony production has increased since adopting the more natural method of breeding.

Dee has written a lot on the subject. She hosts a blog on Yahoo Groups called Organic Beekeepers (http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/). Much of Dee's writings are posted on BeeSource.Com. Here is a popular piece Dee wrote on Biological Beekeeping

 

 

August 23rd, 2013 (Hour 3 - MP3 Only)

Several of us from Phoenix will be visiting with Dee from November 8-10th, 2013 at her home  in Amado in southern Arizona. We hope to learn a lot from Dee so that we can share the information with all of you. If you wish to go, please contact us as there will be a limited number of people allowed to attend.