A lecture given by Clarence Collison at the 2018 National Honey Show entitled "Examining Combs - What Do They Tell You" The National Honey Show gratefully acknowledge the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers for their support, and Warner Edwards for their sponsorship.
Examining the colony brood nest is an important aspect of colony management. Combs are the basic structural unit of the hive; used for reproduction, food storage and can serve as a disease reservoir. Examining brood patterns can aid in determining the overall condition of the colony, quality of the queen, colony strength, healthiness of the bees, and inclination to swarm.
Clarence Collison: As part of my undergraduate degree program majoring in entomology, I took my first course in beekeeping in 1966 which stimulated my interest in bees. During my Master’s program, I studied nectar secretion and how it affects the activity of honey bees in the pollination of hybrid pickling cucumbers. This research area was continued during my PhD program and was concerned with the interrelationships of honey bee activity, foraging behavior, climatic conditions and flowering in the pollination of pickling cucumbers. Throughout my career at The Pennsylvania State University and Mississippi State University, I have served as an Extension beekeeping specialist, taught beekeeping, trained graduate students, written numerous beekeeping publications, published two books and conducted many educational programs for the beekeeping community. For several years I chaired the “Master Beekeeper” certification program of the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America. I write a monthly column “A Closer Look” and prior to that “Do You Know” for Bee Culture magazine.