Author Topic: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today? (Read 69517 times)

The15thMember · « **Reply #200 on:** June 06, 2022, 07:59:26 pm »

Quote from: .30WCF on June 06, 2022, 06:04:53 pm

Lots of bearding lately.

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Is it politically incorrect for me to ask why there are teepees in your yard?

.30WCF · « **Reply #201 on:** June 06, 2022, 08:35:40 pm »

Quote from: The15thMember on June 06, 2022, 07:59:26 pm

Quote from: .30WCF on June 06, 2022, 06:04:53 pm
Lots of bearding lately.

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Is it politically incorrect for me to ask why there are teepees in your yard?

Sorting out, testing out, repairing and refining my pack list for elk season. It never stops.

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Bob Wilson · « **Reply #202 on:** June 08, 2022, 10:18:32 am »

I dismantled a hive beetle slimed hive. All the packed nectar ruined. The bee colony defunct. All because I allowed it to weaken too much earlier in spring, pulling nucs. I have reaped what I sowed.
The only comfort is that this particular long hive body was my frustrating, warped box. So now I can cut it up for other uses.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #203 on:** June 08, 2022, 02:13:55 pm »

Quote from: Bob Wilson on June 08, 2022, 10:18:32 am

I dismantled a hive beetle slimed hive. All the packed nectar ruined. The bee colony defunct. All because I allowed it to weaken too much earlier in spring, pulling nucs. I have reaped what I sowed.
The only comfort is that this particular long hive body was my frustrating, warped box. So now I can cut it up for other uses.

Bob you are right about having a strong hive in the Spring. You and I are both in the South and SHB are an ever threat. Does it seem they are stronger this year than last in your area? I have had some trouble as well. It may be one of those years to bring out the ole Jim and Pans oil pan remedy? I don't know how you would go about it with a long hive. ??

Phillip

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #204 on:** June 08, 2022, 04:47:31 pm »

Ben,
A few years ago, Bobsims added oil trays to his top bar hives. I believe it did make a difference. I don?t hear him complaining about SHBs any more.
Jim Altmiller

Ben Framed · « **Reply #205 on:** June 08, 2022, 06:28:12 pm »

Thank you for your reply Jim. Its good that the oil trays were successful in the hives of Bob Sims! I figured it could be done, I am just wondering 'how' it was done. Do you know what Bob Sims had to do to fit those oil pans into his long hives? I Wonder if Bob Sims has come pictures that he could post, or perhaps pictures he could get to you so could post in his stead? (It might already be posted here but if so I can't find the information). Not for my benefit, I have no long hives, but for the benefit of our members which do have long hives, such as Bob Wilson here.

Phillip

Ben Framed · « **Reply #206 on:** June 08, 2022, 06:49:21 pm »

The followings is all I could find concerned with long hives and oil pans. If the conversation shows enough interest and goes further from here, with 3 or more post, if might be fitting that we start a new topic. I am not attempting to side track the title of this particular topic. What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

TOPIC: Oil trap screened hive bottom?

Quote from: cao on May 09, 2021, 11:55:51 am

After my battles with the little buggers, I have found that you don't need a full tray under a full screened bottom. A small pan slid under a small hole cut in a solid bottom board that is screened over can work just as well. This mean less oil less mess and less cost to convert a solid bottom.

Quote from: Ben Framed on May 09, 2021, 12:15:44 pm

That's awesome cao. I know from your writings that you have many hives. Do you have this pan system under every hive or do you have a special strategy?
If you don't have these under each hive, do you find beetles from other hives are drawn to these trap hives by smell perhaps? In other words if you have these spaced out among your hives, do you find the beetles in the unprotected hives to be in small numbers now? I am asking because, if I remember correctly, Sawdstmakr said he did not have these under every hive after a period of time if I remember correctly. Again, good job!!

Quote from: cao on May 09, 2021, 11:23:45 pm

I haven't got pans on my long hives yet and there are 4 or 5 others that don't have pans. But the rest of them do. I will eventually have every hive have a pan with oil whether they need them or not. If one hive has beetles then they all get oil in their pans. I am not willing to chance it anymore. I already lost a hive this year.

As far as the hole size, I milled out two rectangular holes in the plywood bottom board. The pan is what they call 1/8 size baking pan. It is about 6" x 9" so the hole size that I cut out was as big as I could get. The aluminum pans were less than $3 a piece. Couldn't make anything else for that price.

I think certain hives are better and more vigilant to the beetles. I see some hives almost ignore them while other hives seem to continually harass them.

By the way the beetles in the pan in my previous post was just after a week after installing the modified bottom board.

I bet you feel confident knowing that your beetle problems are all but over! That was quite a catch for a week.. Thanks for your answers and input....

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #207 on:** June 08, 2022, 07:08:18 pm »

Ben,
Bob made two one by one by the length of the hive boards and cut out a 1/4? by 1/4? from one corner and attached them to the bottom of the hive and made a gray that slid into the slots.
Jim Altmiller

Ben Framed · « **Reply #208 on:** June 08, 2022, 07:13:52 pm »

Thanks Jim ✔️

What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

Not a thing, It has rained all day, off and on!

cao · « **Reply #209 on:** June 08, 2022, 11:45:22 pm »

Quote from: Ben Framed on June 08, 2022, 06:49:21 pm

I bet you feel confident knowing that your beetle problems are all but over! That was quite a catch for a week.. Thanks for your answers and input....

I won't be confident until I don't see any more beetles. I am still fighting them every time I check hives. Going to invest in some nematodes shortly to put in the soil to kill the larva.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #210 on:** June 09, 2022, 07:55:51 am »

CAO,
Nematodes can stop the SHBs from pupating from the larvae coming out of your hives. Problem is that SHBs can smell your hives from miles away, some claim as far as five miles. All it takes is for a hive within a few miles to fail and the beetles will lay thousands and thousands of eggs, probably in excess of 10 thousand. I have had to use a full size trash can filled with a strong chlorine mix to handle a hive taken over and it takes hours to kill them.
They will also breed in rotting fruit if a hive is not available.
This is why I have had to use oil trays when I lived in Jacksonville. I had on average 12 hives or more and I had to clean them out at least once a month and I they all would bee solid black with dead beetles until we, a neighbor a mile away did the same, decimated the local SHB population. The following year we both stopped putting oil in the trays because there were too few in them to worry about. It stayed that way until I moved.
Jim Altmiller

rast · « **Reply #211 on:** June 09, 2022, 08:58:23 am »

My first time actually seeing one try to fly into a hive the other evening. I happened to be watching the landing board as foragers flew back with a beetle flying with them. I gave it the finger.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #212 on:** June 09, 2022, 04:32:39 pm »

If you want to see how many SHBs are attacking your hive, put a screen top board on your hive and remove the top at sundown. I did this the day I built my first screen top board and we could not believe how many SHBs we killed for the next 1/2 hour. It was over a hundred.
In Jacksonville I would go out to the apiary every night and remove the tops and kill all of the SHBs that were on top of every screen.
It gave me great pleasure killing every one of them.
Jim Altmiller

Bob Wilson · « **Reply #213 on:** June 09, 2022, 05:22:30 pm »

I have a hole cut in each of the four corners of my long hives, hardware cloth over the holes, and a wide mouth Mason jar with 1 inch oil, screwed into the hole from exterior, underneath the hive.
I change the oil a few times a year.
However, a strong hive is the MUCH better remedy to SHB in my opinion. I kick myself for losing sight of that this spring.
I was lured by the siren call of devil mammon, and sold too many nucs, thus weakening my hives.

The15thMember · « **Reply #214 on:** June 11, 2022, 05:17:02 pm »

I made two little splits from my favorite queen, Ravenna, today. I didn't find any open brood until I got to the 3rd box, so I was worried something had happened to her. I finally found her in box 4, on a frame that was barely drawn, hanging onto the bottom bar.

I'm wondering if she's on her way down, as she didn't seem to have much of an entourage around her, I found several queen cups, and there were only 3 frames of eggs and young larvae. I left the mother hive one, and put each of the other two in another hive with some capped brood and stores and a divider board in the center to make two little "nucs". The LW hive I just shook out was a failed split from this queen, so hopefully this time I can get some daughter queens from her.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #215 on:** June 11, 2022, 07:02:42 pm »

Question, do you have plenty of nectar coming in? (Is your flow still strong)? I have noticed when the nectar flow eases up, the brood slows down accordingly. Another question; Have you extracted your surplus honey? If your nectar flow is on the down hill slide one option would be to go ahead and extract the honey if you haven?t already, leaving the empty combs out for cleanup by your bees, (far enough away from your hives as not to start robbing.

Once the empty combs have been cleaned by the bees, place a super of on top of your donor hive with one, ONLY ONE of the freshly cleaned, empty frames of comb in the middle and foundation frames on either side, filling the box. Feed feed and feed. The bees will kick back-in, drawing new comb and filing the replaced empty as well as stimulating the queen to lay. I do not make these splits in June because the flow in my area is still producing. I ideally like to make these splits in August in my area, but if your flow has fizzled out, Oh well. This should stimulate laying in the brood area.
If the queen is playing out they will supersede her.

Be especially aware of the DANGERS of SHB this time of year. They WILL take advantage of a weak hive as well as a starter hive! Their are two reasons I suggested placing only one drawn empty frame on top with the added frames of foundation. SHB is one and the added bonus of producing new frames of comb stimulating wax for the comb is the other.

Phillip

The15thMember · « **Reply #216 on:** June 11, 2022, 08:35:38 pm »

Quote from: Ben Framed on June 11, 2022, 07:02:42 pm

Question, do you have plenty of nectar coming in? (Is your flow still strong)? I have noticed when the nectar flow eases up, the brood slows down accordingly. Another question; Have you extracted your surplus honey? If your nectar flow is on the down hill slide one option would be to go ahead and extract the honey if you haven?t already, leaving the empty combs out for cleanup by your bees, (far enough away from your hives as not to start robbing.

Once the empty combs have been cleaned by the bees, place a super of on top of your donor hive with one, ONLY ONE of the freshly cleaned, empty frames of comb in the middle and foundation frames on either side, filling the box. Feed feed and feed. The bees will kick back-in, drawing new comb and filing the replaced empty as well as stimulating the queen to lay. I do not make these splits in June because the flow in my area is still producing. I ideally like to make these splits in August in my area, but if your flow has fizzled out, Oh well. This should stimulate laying in the brood area.
If the queen is playing out they will supersede her.

Be especially aware of the DANGERS of SHB this time of year. They WILL take advantage of a weak hive as well as a starter hive! Their are two reasons I suggested placing only one drawn empty frame on top with the added frames of foundation. SHB is one and the added bonus of producing new frames of comb stimulating wax for the comb is the other.

Phillip

This is a REALLY good point. I still have some flow, but it's not a strong as it has been now that blackberries are over. This hive also evicted all their drones earlier in the year when we had little flow, so perhaps they are just more reactive to the change in conditions than my other hives. I did take some blackberry honey off of them, but I'd rather just let them have the rest of their honey for now than have to feed. I don't really feel the need to artificially stimulate them. I'll just let them do what they think is best. I'm just a minimalist manager that way.

Thanks for the tips though.

.30WCF · « **Reply #217 on:** June 12, 2022, 04:46:35 pm »

Solid 20qts settling.

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.30WCF · « **Reply #218 on:** June 12, 2022, 05:25:28 pm »

I pulled some boxes last week and decided I didn?t have time and put them back on. This week there looked like there was less capped honey. I suspect that they are getting into the honey, so I equalized the uncapped boxes and distributed them among the hives. I?ll probably just leave them for the summer unless they get capped, but all I see now is a little clover. I?d rather not feed all summer.
I?m betting if I tested the honey, it?s all dry and they are uncapping it and using it.

Mid June may as well be July, August, and September.

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The15thMember · « **Reply #219 on:** June 12, 2022, 06:15:34 pm »

Quote from: .30WCF on June 12, 2022, 04:46:35 pm

I LOVE this picture!!

Quote from: .30WCF on June 12, 2022, 05:25:28 pm

I pulled some boxes last week and decided I didn?t have time and put them back on. This week there looked like there was less capped honey. I suspect that they are getting into the honey, so I equalized the uncapped boxes and distributed them among the hives. I?ll probably just leave them for the summer unless they get capped, but all I see now is a little clover. I?d rather not feed all summer.
I?m betting if I tested the honey, it?s all dry and they are uncapping it and using it.

Mid June may as well be July, August, and September.

Yeah, we're starting to slide toward our summer dearth here too. The sourwoods are LOADED with buds though, so hopefully we'll be good to go by mid-July.