While inspecting one of the hives recently, I noticed the fine aluminum mesh screen covering the hole of the inner hive cover was almost completely sealed with propolis. Since a feeder was being added to this hive, the screen needed the propolis removed. The reason for this fine screen mesh is to keep out sneaky hive beetles that creep in through the top of the hive. The other part of this anti hive beetle strategy is to seal underneath the screened bottom board with a slide out tray of diatomaceous earth and fine mesh to allow ventilation. Since implementing, we've gone from being infested with hive beetles to having zero in all hives during the last 3 inspections. I didn't expect the results to be this dramatic. It pays to NOT listen to conventional beekeeper books that are basically ignorant of hive beetles habits and their bag of tricks.
But back to the inner hive cover with the propolis covering the aluminum screen. Scraping the propolis is impossible and will tear the screen in no time. Water doesn't work and using any solvents or chemicals is not an option when trying to achieve a completely organic chemical free hive.
The natural solution actually turned out to be quite easy. A heat gun was aimed at the wire mesh and a small container was placed underneath the inner hive cover to collect the dripping propolis. As the propolis heats up, it drips into the collection container. Simple and efficient. And it only took a minute or two.
The Florida Bee Farm" is a mini eco-farm located in Clearwater Florida and completely solar powered. Our eleven hives of pampered (spoiled) honey bees produce delicious local honey. We utilize organic growing methods with naturally made compost and tonics to repel pests. Irrigation system fed by a rain barrel collection system powered by solar electric.
Honey Bee
Showing posts with label hive beetles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hive beetles. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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| Secure base. Nothing gets in except fresh air |
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| 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
Monday, May 18, 2015
Crazy crazy crazy ...
It's been so busy on the bee front that I just haven't had the heart to write about all that's going on. Because it's one step forward and three back. After much work and effort, a good portion of our bees are dead or vanished. Plus being out of town for a week just didn't allow much time to blog.
To sum up the bee situation. The hive at home in the backyard is very strong and everything is smooth. They may even get a honey super next week.
The hives at the bee farm are in pretty bad shape. Only one out of five hives is strong and a survivor. And one hive has about a 10% chance of making it. The others are gone. Varroa mites, hive beetles and wax moths really took their toll. Pesticides is also a possibility for some of the problems. AND a virus that may have been introduced by the varroa.
After doing battle with all these bee killing dilemmas, I have learned A LOT. My next batch of bees will be better prepared to combat all these possible threats. The bee yard has been resurfaced with crushed shell which will aid in fighting the hive beetle larvae hatching into attacking beetles. Plus I'm working with another fairly new beekeeper and we're coming up with modifications to the hives that will take into consideration the Florida factor and how hive beetles enter the hive. Hopefully this will limit the bee losses. Around the country beekeepers are losing on average 60% of their bees annually. So far this year in only a few months I've already lost 70% !!! But I'm in this battle for the long run and will continue to perfect my beekeeping.
And the other reason I'm not blogging is it would be one disaster after another. The gardening has been consecutive problems one after another. The way I'm trying to face that is instead of looking at all the plants getting decimated by insects, critters and mold, I'm will positively focus on all the plants that are doing well and thriving. And plenty of them are doing well. But the bottom line is that whole thing is also going to have to be rethought. I tried using natural tonics from Jerry Baker's books to create organic veggies. Only problem is the tonics don't seem to work and even make things worse sometimes. So I need to talk to some master gardeners and get some solid advice before the fall planting season. This summer I'll just focus on ornamentals and work on irrigation and shading some areas. And that's ok ... another learning process which is how most people learn before getting a beautiful perfect garden. Just like the bees, it will be much better next year.
We've harvested some honey already. Tonight we harvested 5 frames of honey on our new motorized extractor. And it worked great. The extractor is a good quality American made 6/9 frame extractor. Quite an extravagance but as I said earlier, I'm in this for the long run. The frames came from a hive that needed to have the honey super removed. Their numbers were so decimated that they were spending most of their energy fending off robbers. No foraging was going on and I'm pretty sure this hive will be done by the end of the month. No queen, no brood, no foraging .... things look pretty grim. If I can give them some brood and a queen they may have a chance but that's a longshot.
The magic swarm trap / magic oak tree are unfortunately no longer attracting swarms. Because I could sure use some more bees around now.
To sum up the bee situation. The hive at home in the backyard is very strong and everything is smooth. They may even get a honey super next week.
The hives at the bee farm are in pretty bad shape. Only one out of five hives is strong and a survivor. And one hive has about a 10% chance of making it. The others are gone. Varroa mites, hive beetles and wax moths really took their toll. Pesticides is also a possibility for some of the problems. AND a virus that may have been introduced by the varroa.
After doing battle with all these bee killing dilemmas, I have learned A LOT. My next batch of bees will be better prepared to combat all these possible threats. The bee yard has been resurfaced with crushed shell which will aid in fighting the hive beetle larvae hatching into attacking beetles. Plus I'm working with another fairly new beekeeper and we're coming up with modifications to the hives that will take into consideration the Florida factor and how hive beetles enter the hive. Hopefully this will limit the bee losses. Around the country beekeepers are losing on average 60% of their bees annually. So far this year in only a few months I've already lost 70% !!! But I'm in this battle for the long run and will continue to perfect my beekeeping.
And the other reason I'm not blogging is it would be one disaster after another. The gardening has been consecutive problems one after another. The way I'm trying to face that is instead of looking at all the plants getting decimated by insects, critters and mold, I'm will positively focus on all the plants that are doing well and thriving. And plenty of them are doing well. But the bottom line is that whole thing is also going to have to be rethought. I tried using natural tonics from Jerry Baker's books to create organic veggies. Only problem is the tonics don't seem to work and even make things worse sometimes. So I need to talk to some master gardeners and get some solid advice before the fall planting season. This summer I'll just focus on ornamentals and work on irrigation and shading some areas. And that's ok ... another learning process which is how most people learn before getting a beautiful perfect garden. Just like the bees, it will be much better next year.
We've harvested some honey already. Tonight we harvested 5 frames of honey on our new motorized extractor. And it worked great. The extractor is a good quality American made 6/9 frame extractor. Quite an extravagance but as I said earlier, I'm in this for the long run. The frames came from a hive that needed to have the honey super removed. Their numbers were so decimated that they were spending most of their energy fending off robbers. No foraging was going on and I'm pretty sure this hive will be done by the end of the month. No queen, no brood, no foraging .... things look pretty grim. If I can give them some brood and a queen they may have a chance but that's a longshot.
The magic swarm trap / magic oak tree are unfortunately no longer attracting swarms. Because I could sure use some more bees around now.
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