Recent Posts

1

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by Ben Framed on Today at 01:34:48 pm »

gww, so far I have not lost a hive to ants either, and the general agreement seems to be that carpenter ants can affect a colony. I do not know from first hand experience only what the accepted general consensus is and I did not take the chance.... but...... this leads to a question.


Has anyone here 'personally' lost a hive to carpenter ants? 

Phillip

2

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by gww on Today at 01:13:09 pm »

I don't know the difference between ants.  I just know I have plenty and it has never bothered me.  I did read that if your hives are on stands, you can put the legs in cans of oil.

3

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by Ben Framed on Today at 01:08:46 pm »

I never worry about ants.  Most hives defend themselves just fine and it they don't, they probably have other problems.

gww I dont worry to much about ants either. Except the time I was worried about Carpenter ants as I have heard they will do a colony in. I used the stuff Jim and others suggested and it worked. Wish I could remember the brand or name...

Jim?

4

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 12:50:18 pm »

It has been suggested to bait ants with a bucket over top to keep the bees out. I have potato salad containers with small holes drilled in and sugar and borax and one with grape jelly in it but it's not doing much to draw the ants in for some reason. I'll have to think about moving them back then. I am concerned that it will screw them up.

5

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on Today at 12:46:23 pm »

Terri,
Sugar Ants and fire ants are not a problem. Carpenter ants and Bull ants are a real problem for bees. They can destroy a hive. I use Terra Ant Bait to kill them. Make sure the bees cannot get to the bait. I had a friend who made homemade ant bait and killed all but one hive of a trailer of 13 hives. She just put it in a jar on the ground with a large opening. It is just water sugar and boric acid.
Jim Altmiller

6

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 12:46:13 pm »

Bottom box is a medium with empty frames and starter sticks, top box is medium with 3 frames of comb and seven of empty plastic foundation. After they settle down, I can look in the side port and see what they're up to. I can see all the way through the bottom box but the top box, all I can see is the outer frame.

7

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by gww on Today at 12:44:08 pm »

I personally believe you are going to cause yourself more issues.  It is in my opinion going to be harder to move them 80 feet after they have foraged from the trap site for ten days.  It will probably work out but you risk a higher portion of lost bees or hard headed bees due to the three mile rule.   They would have been taking orientation flights in the right place if you left them.  They are learning where home is.

8

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Community Feeding

« Last post by Ben Framed on Today at 12:40:24 pm »

Thats true too gww. And can you imagine how long it would take to individually feed hundreds of hives! Open feeding for the pros is much more feasible at certain times of the year.. Even still, Ian bucket top feeds when he is getting ready to top them off, shut 'em' down, and put them up, for Winter. Again timing and Seasons dictate the need and method...

9

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Community Feeding

« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 12:22:51 pm »

Has anyone actually seen the robbing of individual hives while community feeding is going on?

I have from setting out sticky wax, and again, it's always once I remove the feed that robbing starts, and I had the most trouble when I had it close to the apiary.  By putting robbing screens on smaller colonies I was able to keep it under control, but once I got a hive top feeder I just found that to be much better for everyone. 

You can always do it and see how it works out over the course of the season.  We all experiment and that's part of learning.  You might have better luck with it than some of us.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with trying it.  In my opinion you just need to be aware that it can affect other beekeepers, and that is something to be conscientious about. 

10

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 12:12:16 pm »

I never worry about ants.  Most hives defend themselves just fine and it they don't, they probably have other problems.

I agree, I've never had any significant problem with ants.  A couple of times where they are an annoyance to me, but the bees don't seem to notice them.   

OK, that makes me feel a little better. I was afraid they'd be bothered by them and leave already. They're out there taking orientation classes. I think I'll leave them there for about ten days. Maybe even longer. They're not in the way where there are, they're just too high to work.

Did you say that you have only completely blank frames with starter strips in this hive?  I wouldn't let them go more than a week like that without an inspection, just in case they were to draw anything funky, you'd want to catch it and correct it before it gets out of hand.  The starter strips usually work, but that is a LOT of open space, and sometimes the bees have other ideas about what comb shape is best.    If they have a mated queen, it will be 4-5 days until there is open brood in the hive, and once there is they won't abandon the babies.