Entrance Reducer

[djgriggs]

Hello everyone. Once again I would like to mention how much I love this forum.. Everyone is always helpful and makes you feel welcome..

As you may know I have 2 hives . One is with foundation and the second is without "foundation-less" I am currently seeing more activity in the foundation hive than I am in the foundation-less hive. I am thinking that that would be normal sense the foundation-less is going to take more of the bees time " but then what do I know I am a newbee :)  I also did not have any entrance reducers for the hives.. The reducers arrived yesterday. I put them on and I immediately noticed a reduction in activity in both hives .. Should I remove these reducers sense it has been in the upward 70's of late or do I need them at all as I know that they are to be used to help reduce robbing. "Please school me" ..

Also for the foundation-less hive I currently have half of a pollen patty in place in the hive... Even though I see the bees bringing in Pollen I thought that it would not hurt if they had some extra help due to it being foundation-less. Then I learned that the Pollen Patties could be an attractant for SHB. So I went to remove but seen many , many bees eating on the patty so I just left it for a latter removal.

The idea is to do this at least for the foundation-less hive.... Remove the half patty and replace it with a Pale feeder --Mixing sugar syrup:  1:1 best for wax production, two four pound bags of sugar to one gallon of water... Put it into place and then if they make use of it so bee it if they do not I will remove it in a week.. Please give me all of your thoughts on this Once again " send me to school" hehehehe.

Thank you

[cao]

>The reducers arrived yesterday. I put them on and I immediately noticed a reduction in activity in both hives.

It could be that with the smaller entrance, they need less bees to patrol the entrance.  I keep my hives with the entrance reduced all year.  In fact, I have nailed some of them in place.

No two hive will act the same.  The difference in activity at the entrance can be caused by a number of different things.  It may not have any thing to do with the foundation/foundationless difference.

[moebees]

Depends on how reduced they are and whether there is a flow on or not.  The standard 10 frame Langstroth opening is more than they need at anytime so having a reducer on isn't a bad idea.  But if you are in a flow chances of robbing aren't great.  Since you say you ordered them I assume they are the kind with like three different openings depending on how you put it in?  I would not have it reduced down to the smallest setting this time of year.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Your entrance reducer should be set to the four inch by one half inch opening.

Sugar mix 1:1 is correct.  The foundationless hive will need the sugar.  DONT SPILL the syrup or you will have robbing.

For future use you might consider acquiring some lemon grass essential oil.  Use one drop per gallon of syrup.  Honey bees are very attracted to lemon grass oil.  Folks use on swarm traps to catch swarms and in syrup.  Use carefully during a dearth or not at all.

Use the oil in syrup feeders for strong colonies only or you will have robbing for sure.  I use the oil in my community feeders in July and August if a dearth is on.  Spill the lemon grass on your clothing and bees will be following you all day.

[djgriggs]

Your entrance reducer should be set to the four inch by one half inch opening.

Sugar mix 1:1 is correct.  The foundationless hive will need the sugar.  DONT SPILL the syrup or you will have robbing.

For future use you might consider acquiring some lemon grass essential oil.  Use one drop per gallon of syrup.  Honey bees are very attracted to lemon grass oil.  Folks use on swarm traps to catch swarms and in syrup.  Use carefully during a dearth or not at all.

Use the oil in syrup feeders for strong colonies only or you will have robbing for sure.  I use the oil in my community feeders in July and August if a dearth is on.  Spill the lemon grass on your clothing and bees will be following you all day.

The reducers that I had purchased are the wooden strips that only have two sizes . I am using the four inch entrance.... I have also determined that my bees have varroa so I am going to do an inspection of both hives this saturday to see how bad it is and determain a solution. I could use recommendations here temps lately have been in the mid / high 70's here in North Alabama . The weather is due to get to the mid 80's soon..  Below are the 3 treatments that I was looking at and the order..

**** 1.  Mite away Quick Strips
        2. Oxalic Acid
        3. Apivar

Please send my your knowledge and good vibes once again.

Thank you DJ

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

More on entrance reducers.  Play it as you see it.  This day I changed the entrance on three hives.

Two hives from 3/4 in opening to 1/2 X 4 opening pour to congestion.

The third hive I opted to give a full opening due to fanning.  This is one large hive, 2 deeps, 2 supers and full of bees so robbing in not much of a concern.  Moisture evaporation of the nectar is a concern, so I gave full opening.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Regarding mitescides, I consume the honey from my hives.  So I and Lil John and others, avoid any chemical that is not naturally occurring in Honey.  Of the 3 mite treatments that you mentioned, oxalic acid is the only natural component of honey, and broccoli, and spinach and a lot of vegetables.

If you do not plan to consume your honey, then you have many options.  Keep in mind the words of M Bush, Acebird and others: if you treat then you are creating or maintaining honey bees that will be dependent on future treatments,,,,,not Bush exact words but similar.
Blessings

[djgriggs]

Regarding mitescides, I consume the honey from my hives.  So I and Lil John and others, avoid any chemical that is not naturally occurring in Honey.  Of the 3 mite treatments that you mentioned, oxalic acid is the only natural component of honey, and broccoli, and spinach and a lot of vegetables.

If you do not plan to consume your honey, then you have many options.  Keep in mind the words of M Bush, Acebird and others: if you treat then you are creating or maintaining honey bees that will be dependent on future treatments,,,,,not Bush exact words but similar.
Blessings

I see what your saying about the about the treatments and understand. Question through would it be a concern now even though I have on no honey supers ? .As I would like to eventually do the honey.

Also I like the idea of the Oxalic acid However I did notice that it did not get into the cells. I also understand that if I treat them there is a chance that it would help to prevent the bees from withstanding the mites on there own. " is that correct "

[Flydown]

Just yesterday, I read an article about a study on using mineral oil to aid in mite control. The author was getting good results with it and then developed health issues and was not able to complete the study. He did publish the results he had attained this far in hopes that someone would take it and run with it.

[cao]

Keep in mind that I don't treat for mites at all.  If I were then oxalic acid would be the best alternative IMO.  But before I did, I would want to know that it is necessary.  Do some sort of mite count to find out.  Almost every hive will have mites, not all hives have to be treated.

[djgriggs]

Okay, I got home today and installed a pale feeder in my foundation-less hive. I am concerned because I cannot tell if it was leaking or not once it is in place. I do not think it is but then again when I first flipped the pales over it was slowly dripping. Any thoughts?

My original thought was to remove the partial / half of the pollen patty that I had put in place however the bees were still all over it so I just left it and went ahead and put down the full pale feeder. I am just hoping it does not leak , can anyone give me some advice on this.

Thank you