Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?  (Read 2339 times)

Offline FloridaGardener

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« on: March 30, 2019, 01:24:51 am »
The SBB has a 2x2 rim around it, and a solid bottom to catch what falls through.  Over the solid bottom, I leave a piece of waxed paper or parchment sprayed with cooking oil, to make any SHB stick if they fall through.  The debris gives me a reading on what is happening inside.

Here's the guessing game: What do you see in this batch?

Offline BeeMaster2

  • Administrator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 13533
  • Gender: Male
Re: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2019, 09:29:13 am »
It looks to me like you put an old frame in the hive and the bees are cleaning it out or they are just cleaning out an old frame from last year. They are also making wax, see the clear pieces. They are also bringing in a lot of pollen and dropping some.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline FloridaGardener

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
Re: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2019, 10:07:35 pm »
Yes! And...no SHB. No ants. No varroa mites.  Yay! 

They have treatment-free foundationless top bar comb. I took hi-res photos of the bars during a 20-min hive inspection yesterday and zoomed in and studied the photos...no piggybackers, and no red mites in the cells. 

Offline FloridaGardener

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
Re: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2019, 02:57:34 am »
I think this is why there are no SHB under my SBB.  He's there every time.  If you ask me, he's looking kinda pudgy, so he's doing his job.

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19925
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2019, 08:51:53 am »
There are small almost clear wax flakes the fell from bees' abdomens before they turned them into comb.  There are pollen pellets.  There are chewed out cocoons.  There are bits of cappings.  Two or three mouse droppings.  A few pieces of some kind of plant matter.  A couple of things that might be wax moth droppings, but not enough to be certain.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline FloridaGardener

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 548
Re: Guessing Game: What's under this SBB?
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2019, 01:30:35 pm »
Aha!  The critter scat may be from this Cuban brown anole.  Around here, our mice are rat-sized, leaving scat 1/2" or larger.  Anoles live a few years, eating moths, beetles, and larvae. Perhaps varroa.

They're territorial, so maybe I could plant one under each hive as an IPM technique. They're sold as pets, can be as smart as birds, and have some long term memory. 

This little guy isn't named yet.  Suggestions appreciated!