More bees and better prepared

The last couple weeks the equipment around here has been getting modified and ready for some new arrivals.  The new trays under the screened bottom board are working out great and are a big weapon in the war on hive beetles. 

After installing one of the newly designed bottom boards with tray of diatomaceous earth in the hive behind our house I spent several hours watching the activity around the hive.  Sure enough, the hive was besieged by hive beetles trying to break back into the hive.  When I tore the hive down, many of them flew off and were trying their old tricks to re-enter the hive but to no avail.  Not only did I secure the bottoms of the hives but the tops were also secured with fine mesh screen to keep any sneaky beetles from coming in from the hive covers and through the inner hive cover.  Now when they try that they are stuck in the upper chamber with nowhere to go ... until I open up the hive and squash them. 

But back to the hive beetles trying to breech the entrance.  They kept landing on the front surface of the hive and tried to make a bee line to the entrance which was now only a few inches in width and surrounded by guard bees.  The bees keep a close guard on the hive beetles and do what they can to keep them out of the hive.  Before they could fly under the hive and crawl in through the screened bottom board as the mesh on that is big enough for a hive beetle to squeeze through. No longer an option for them.

After several days the trays of diatomaceous earth under the bottom boards were loaded with dead hive beetles.  They may have been pushed through the bottom board screen by bees.  It's working as intended.  The surprising result came from the gargoyle hive which in the first day dropped a whole lot of maggotty little hive beetle larvae AND wax moth larvae into the tray.  Quite a bit.   They were pretty infested with those pests.

Two new hives (left, on the stand)

Today I picked up several new Nucs from a friend and installed them at the Bee Farm.  As it felt like a thousand degrees out there the install happened as quick as possible.  It looks like the next project will be some shade cloth over the hives.  I'm now thinking that all the beekeepers who recommended full sun for the colonies were not of sound mind.  Why subject bees to these temperatures and have them expend so much more energy to keep the hive temperature right.  Shade cloth will also help the dripping beekeeper that's working on the hives as well. 

Now up to 5 hives total.

Hive beetle War strategies

As of today I have two excellent strong hives of honey bees left.  Besides being strong hives, they are gentle as can be and a pleasure to be around.  And that's something I want to continue.  Because once they get overrun with varroa and hive beetles that can change.

Secure base.  Nothing gets in except fresh air

Slides into base (lubricated with beeswax of course)

The first thing I did was completely caulk all new frames in the hives to allow no crevices where hive beetles can hang out.  Plus that saves the bees time and energy so they won't have to fill these areas with propolis.  Several members of the Pinellas beekeeping group had some innovative ideas how their hive bottoms and covers were modified to add ventilation and close off areas where hive beetles hide out.  The hive bottom boards were screened but under the screens they had trays that could hold either diatomaceous earth  OR oil.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages.  I decided to start off with the diatomaceous earth which is fatal to hive beetles ... especially their larvae.  Oil is a bit messy and you may end up with low spots due to the angle of the hives not being completely level.

sliding bottom board pan for oil or diatomaceous earth

fine mesh screen vent in the bottom board promotes cool bees

So now the bottom of the hive has closed off access to hive beetles while still retaining a fine screened ventilation slot.  Plus the pan of diatomaceous earth to catch hive beetles being pushed out by the bees.

Modified inner hive cover

Fine aluminum screen - Nothing gets in but fresh air from the cover

The top covers of the hives also have major modifications.  Besides extra venting, the bottom of the inner covers are completely screened with fine mesh to keep out any hive beetles (or other pests like wax moths, etc.).  They may get into the upper chamber but it's impossible for them to get in where the bees are.  And I think this will be a major help because above inner hive covers is where these nasty beetles love to hide out and plot their strategies to lay eggs in the brood chamber infecting the baby bee larvae.

The final method of hive beetle control is one I've mentioned in previous posts.  And that's adding an entrance reducer.  This gives the beetles a limited area to gain access to the hive.  With a couple hundred bees hanging out by the entrance keeping watch this really limits the options for hive beetles sneaking in.

Adding beeswax to honey super frames

I'm happy to report that the bee farm bees were ready for a honey super so some beeswax was melted in the slow cooker we got at a resale shop and then applied to medium frames.  I used a foam brush to apply the wax which was somewhat clumsy.  Need to refine this technique somewhat.  Also tried a mini roller which might work better.  A constant learning process for sure.  Fun fun fun