Bees

[user 7704]

That's one thing I've learned. Listen to the bees, they will tell you what they need. Just leave the jar in there for a week, we'll see if they suck it down . You don't want it out there more than 2 weeks as it'll ferment.

Don't want them drinking mead

 

[user 7704]

TEXAS FREEDOM: today I had 6 deer in the yard and one was hanging around the hives. Husband asked if the would try to get the honey like a bear?

Will they? I know deer like salt, but I don't know about the sweet.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Deer are not an issue.

Actually bears don't go into the hive for the honey. Yes, that's the general mis-understanding. But the bears go for the brood. It has great carbohydrates for them. The honey will give them a fun sugar rush but very short term, the carbs are what they want.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Just checked on the hives today and one hive has been completely taken over by yellow jackets. I took the top off and yellow jackets came pouring out. Up until a few days ago it was doing great. The yellow jackets this summer are the worse that I've ever seen. Can't wait until the first hard freeze.

 

[user 7704]

Just checked on the hives today and one hive has been completely taken over by yellow jackets. I took the top off and yellow jackets came pouring out. Up until a few days ago it was doing great. The yellow jackets this summer are the worse that I've ever seen. Can't wait until the first hard freeze.

Dang, that is a big loss.

At the bee meeting on Monday, the speaker said he always requeens in the Fall not Spring. In the Spring they are rushed to reproduce, etc. If you requeen in the Fall, the have all winter to acclimate.

Sounds good to me. I don't know if it is or not.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Just checked on the hives today and one hive has been completely taken over by yellow jackets. I took the top off and yellow jackets came pouring out. Up until a few days ago it was doing great. The yellow jackets this summer are the worse that I've ever seen. Can't wait until the first hard freeze.

I'm sorry for the lose. But it was just one hive. You need to take those YJ and kill them all. An easy way is to seal the entrance & put the whole thing in the freezer for a few days. Don't put poison in there because you want to save the frames/body. You can seal the entrance & put the whole hive in a sealed black plastic bag (cooks + suffocates). But take them out NOW before they attack other colonies. Also it might be time to reduce the entrances so they can defend themselves better.

BTW, this wasn't a 'few day' thing. The colony had to be weak for YJ to take them over. And you have a YJ colony close by... FIND IT NOW. There are 'baits' people use (rotten meat in a trap, search youtube for "yellow jacket trap", you'll see 1000 ways to do it. Bees will ignore rotten meat, but YJ will be all over it. Everyone loses colonies sooner or later.

And Robin, there are always more options. My approach is to NOT replace queens. When the colony senses they have a weak queen, they'll replace her on their schedule. But again my bees are feral. I would follow the advice of your local mentor. He knows your colony, he knows what methods have worked for him. If a $30 queen is the local way to do this, go for it.

 

[SerenityNZ]

Don’t know what i may have to offer is relative as I’m Southern Hemisphere, but real world hive manipulation and management experience may translate.

I’m a Certified Organic Commercial Beekeeper living in New Zealand running 1000 production hives.

If you want to know anything feel free to ask...

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[TexasFreedom]

SNZ,
Welcome to the forum.

A few thoughts. You haven't had AHB invasions, have you? (Africanized) Varroa? SHB? What are the biggest issues in the apiary in NZ.

Of course, I'm jealous because your country is doing the most basic intelligent things that mine isn't. No open borders, no selling out to big $$$. No invasions of disease (related to the last 2)...

Tell us some about your mindset of prepping, and what are your biggest concerns?

 

[SerenityNZ]

SNZ,
Welcome to the forum.

A few thoughts. You haven't had AHB invasions, have you? (Africanized) Varroa? SHB? What are the biggest issues in the apiary in NZ.

Of course, I'm jealous because your country is doing the most basic intelligent things that mine isn't. No open borders, no selling out to big $$$. No invasions of disease (related to the last 2)...

Tell us some about your mindset of prepping, and what are your biggest concerns?

Luckily we are so remote we haven’t had to contend with Africanised bees or hive beetle

Varroa and AFB are enough to contend with as we don’t feed antibiotics to our bees here.

Well actually...NZ govt has been attempting to sell out large farms to International corporations but were lobbied against.

Policy has ruined the local housing market in Auckland by permitting International buyers to invest heavily in the housing infrastructure....now many Kiwis Cant afford to buy their first home.

Still at least we don’t have fundamentalist refugees overtaking our cities like in France and Germany ...that’s scary.

I guess my biggest concern is a collapse of infrastructure whether CME, EMP, natural disaster, pandemic, nuclear winter etc and even without a huge population the onflow effect will impact negatively on the majority low socio economic populace here.

Thankfully I live in a remote area and am fairly aware of the issues we could potentially face so have prepps already in place.




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[DrHenley]

Thankfully I live in a remote area and am fairly aware of the issues we could potentially face so have prepps already in place.

Pretty much the whole North Island is a remote area, isn't it? (I guess excepting Aukland)

 

[SerenityNZ]

Pretty much the whole North Island is a remote area, isn't it? (I guess excepting Aukland)

The North Island is very remote and safe in places but does have several major cities along the main trunk highway running North and South.

The problem in the far north is poverty so there are large low socioeconomic rural regions where crime and meth use is rampant...

If you hold out your left hand and that represents the North Island, I live on the outside edge of the thumb.

This is the Coromandel Peninsular and extremely beautiful.

Yes those are fully feral wild [emoji203] , I pop one now and again for the freezer.

Here my front lawn

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[user 7704]

I opened hives today.

I HAVE BEETLES.

TEX , ARTIC what have you done if you have had them?

 

[TexasFreedom]

My apologies for the delay.

Do not panic!

Go to the store, get some Swiffer pads. Unscented, and generic brand work just fine. Cut it into 1/6th pieces. Put 2 in opposite corners at each level. 4-6 pieces will be sufficient. The bees will puff it up some. The beetles run across it & get tied up & die there. It is a beautiful thing. When each piece gets a whole bunch (dozens) of SHB, take it out & replace it.

SHB are not the end of the world. Easily resolved. Minimize any corners or places they can hide. Remove extra hive bodies if they are empty (less room to hide/run).

 

[user 7704]

My apologies for the delay.

Do not panic!

Go to the store, get some Swiffer pads. Unscented, and generic brand work just fine. Cut it into 1/6th pieces. Put 2 in opposite corners at each level. 4-6 pieces will be sufficient. The bees will puff it up some. The beetles run across it & get tied up & die there. It is a beautiful thing. When each piece gets a whole bunch (dozens) of SHB, take it out & replace it.

SHB are not the end of the world. Easily resolved. Minimize any corners or places they can hide. Remove extra hive bodies if they are empty (less room to hide/run).

I read about the swiffer pads. I think I have the wrong type, mine are just one ply. I also read about corrugated boxes and 2. They get inside and if you have a poison that the bees can't get to it kills the beetles. Don't like that idea.

I'll look for some of the puffy swiffer pads.

Thanks

 

[user 7704]

The speaker at bee meeting mentioned the Swifter pad method. I'm going to put some in today if we get some sun.

He said the secret is not to leave in more than 1 week or then start living underneath pad.

 

[TexasFreedom]

then start living underneath pad.

Huh?

 

[user 7704]

Huh?

If you leave the Swifter pad in place too long, the Beetles make a home underneath because they are protected.

I'm bummed, I just went down and pulled out a piece of cardboard I had put in the bottom board to see what would fall out. I found about 5 larvae.

I didn't open because it is cloudy today, but stuck some of thenswiffers that I had cut into strips into the top box where the feeders are. We shall see.

 

[Mountain trapper]

One of our hives was killed off by yellow jackets this summer and the other one looks weak. I'm not sure if we'll try again next year.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I thought our biggest predator problem would be with bears or badgers, not yellow jackets.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Robin, don't put the Swiffer pad on the bottom board, put it between hive bodies. Nowhere to underneath.

AD, make a yellow jacket trap. I've heard from guys across the country, yellow jackets have been a real problem everywhere. But traps work great & don't catch bees. Search youtube. I've seen traps made from 2 liter soda bottles. I've seen traps made from 15 gallon totes. And both have filled up.

I actually pitty folks who don't have Africanized bees. My girls have zero problems with hive beetles and zero problems with yellow jackets. Attack. Mob. Kill. It's a great strategy. They only wished it'd work on me, but they keep trying. But strong hives solve many, many problems.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Robin, don't put the Swiffer pad on the bottom board, put it between hive bodies. Nowhere to underneath.

AD, make a yellow jacket trap. I've heard from guys across the country, yellow jackets have been a real problem everywhere. But traps work great & don't catch bees. Search youtube. I've seen traps made from 2 liter soda bottles. I've seen traps made from 15 gallon totes. And both have filled up.

I actually pitty folks who don't have Africanized bees. My girls have zero problems with hive beetles and zero problems with yellow jackets. Attack. Mob. Kill. It's a great strategy. They only wished it'd work on me, but they keep trying. But strong hives solve many, many problems.

Tex, I've had 10 yellow jacket traps out all summer. Some of these traps would fill up in one a day. The dam yellow jackets were extremely aggressive this year too. The wife and I were stung several times. Last night I climbed in to bed and got stung. A YJ was under the covers. It's cold enough now the the 'jackets are gone.

 

[user 7704]

80% of all hives were lost last year. (In Tennessee)

 

[TexasFreedom]

Not counting fireant attacks, I lost zero hives last year. Mean girls don't die.

 

[brandx]

Things are 'relative'. Not only the general temperament of your hive but weather and conditions. Here's the basic thing: you have 30,000 sisters all living together. Do you think there will be good days and bad? They don't like bad weather, cloudy, cold, dearths (no pollen/nectar available). One day you can open your hive in shorts with no issue. Another day you can be 10 ft away & get stung.

For mowers and tillers, remember that bees are deaf but they HATE vibration. I've gotten within 20 ft of my hives without ticking them off. Remember bees don't fly after dark, so that's a good time to mow/weed wack closer. Not at dusk (I made that mistake once), I mean dark & not with lots of lights. I also know people who can mow within feet of their hive without issue. Just make sure the outgoing grass/exhaust does not blow toward the hive... they really hate that. And don't touch/knock the hive or stand, that's vibration. In my case I keep my bees maybe 700 ft from my house, but I have the land.

You don't 'acclimate' a queen, at least not 10 vs 8 frame. If you have a small colony, you can start with a nuc (5 frame). But that's more for guys doing this on a larger scale. Usually your 'space' will mean stacking more boxes vertically. So you start with 8 frames in 1 body, when that is 80% full you put another 8 frame body on top of it. Nobody 'starts' with an 8 frame the 'expands' to the 10 frame. Get one or the other, they are a fixed size. As I said, I think you'd like the 8 frame more. To see how the 3 sellers' bees are: go to their place and watch them work their hives. You'll see quickly how gentle they are.

Another key thing: ask each what do they do to treat their hives. There are 2 main issues: SHB (small hive beetle) and varroa mite. I don't treat, that's the perfect option (my bees are extremely hardy). SHB isn't that big an issue, easy to 'treat' with a trap that isn't a chemical issue. Varroa is the issue. Some people treat regularly with some nasty chemicals. You can ask this by phone of each of the guys. You'll want 2 things: gentleness and hardiness.

Some bees have a natural ability to control varroa/SHB. They call it 'cleaner' bees, they 'clean' each other and the hive. Some go too far: bees will actually drag out their baby larvae in cleaning the hive (yup, exactly the 'toss out the baby with the bathwater'). People that treat their bees with chemicals & such are actually making their bees weaker as well as their SHB/varroa stronger.

I learned my lesson by the hornets in the apple trees, don't pick in day time, not at dusk or dawn but at night only(this is late in the season when the apples are really sweet). One came at me, I hit him with my hand as he was trying to sting. Saw a few minutes later he just got me a couple of little times, of course I ran to the barn. LOL

 

[brandx]

Enjoying all your discussions, am learning more and more, even though I don't have bees, Wonder how much an extractor is worth?

 

[user 7704]

Tex the speaker at this months meeting makes hives. He takes the general design from a Lang or Top Bar etc and adjusts them to his specifications. He has a bad back so he makes a COFFIN type that isn't too tall and can even be used by those in wheelchairs. He makes the frames and all. With or without foundation. He also makes special adaptions for glass feeders and the oxi heater thingy. It's was kind of cool. He has used the swiffer pads for beetles and was the one that said not to leave them in very long.

 

[user 7704]

Enjoying all your discussions, am learning more and more, even though I don't have bees, Wonder how much an extractor is worth?

They have different sizes based on how any frames can fit at one time. Our club rents theirs to membera for $20 per day and $20 refunded if you return it nuc e and clean.

 

[TexasFreedom]

I've seen extractors for $50 and $5000. From 2 frame hand crank to 70 frame motorized. Our club lets you borrow it with a deposit and you get it back if it's returned clean.

People are making all kinds of modifications to top bar & langs. I'm not a fan, I'll keep my langs plain and the same as the past century.

 

[user 7704]

I'll stick to my Langs too. Maybe when they get too heavy, go to an 8 instead of 10.

In have 2 nucs, I bottom deep and 5 med deeps to start next year. My mentor says it doesn't get cold enough here to wrap in tar paper. (That was my plan) so I'm really not sure what I need to do for winter prep. So far, not much.

 

[DrHenley]

Open beehive
https://www.foxnews.com/science/rare-open-beehive-in-virginia-stuns-wildlife-expert