Baby powder??

[Jenxy]

Ok, So I was given a copy of the Dummies guide today... have read the first 90 pages, and so far so good.... Only one thing, page 89.. included in the "tool kit" for beeks is a bottle of baby powder. Apparently, it helps to keep your hands clean, and bees love the smell.
Does anyone else use this? and does is do anything?
Be prepared for more daft questions as I go through the book..

 

[Poly Hive]

Well it is a daft book and if you believe that knocking out q cells will stop swarming then well... good luck.

I bought it to check it out and it's as American as I feared and not totally to be trusted.

Reminds me I must get it onto amazon.

PH

 

[Jenxy]

Should I not be taking it too seriously then Poly Hive? As much as I have read so far is pretty basic... I suppose I have learned more from reading old posts on here. I will stick with it, can't just read half a book, but I will have to source a copy of the famous Mr Hooper's bok I think.

 

[Jenxy]

Bok? Book..

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Dont worry jexy we know what you ment it is not a spelling competition (cos I would lose any way)

 

[Poly Hive]

Old oil field saying.

If you can't fix it with a hammer.................

Get a bigger one.

Still canna fix it?.......................................

Get a bigger Roughneck to swing it.

PH

 

[Polyanwood]

If you want to be super green and recycle your marigolds, then you have to sterilise them in washing soda or bleach solution and then dry them. And then when they are dry and you try to put them back on they are sticky... but baby power inside then works like magic and they are as good as new.

 

[Jenxy]

I had to read that twice.... I thought you were talking about flowers....duh...
Ok, so the baby powder bit in the book was probably totally irrelevant...
What are the sticky boards all about.
I don't think I have seen anyone on here talk about them... the book says they go below the mite mesh board, and the mites stick to it. Are they really needed? Does anyone use them?

 

[BKF Admin]

Thats so you can do a mite count.

Its something like less 5 a day is ok but keep an eye on out,more than 7-8 a day you need to act.

I have never counted mites myself,you just treat them and thats it,I have never even bother putting a tray over the OMF when I treat.

 

[David P]

basically its a board that slides in under the open mesh floor. If youve bought a hive with a mesh floor it should have one already. I gave mine a quick coat of white paint, as for it being sticky , a few days under a full box of bees will make it more than sticky enough.

Principle says that mites fall off bees end up on floor and from the mites you can count on the board you can estimate the mites in the hive.

 

[Polyanwood]

Perhaps baby powder nothing to do with use use of the rubber gloves. Now I'm thinking that the Dummies people were serioulsy into rubber gear. the gimps meet the cat woman.

You can use the sticky insert floors under the varroa floor or on a solid floor.

 

[Hombre]

I need to type faster. David summed it up just fine. Sometimes an oil film could be used as the sticky component, but it is something else to carry about and clean. Fine for a few hives, but multiply that by a few hundred and you might reconsider.

The bees might prefer an unscented talcum rather than J&J baby powder.

 

[Polyanwood]

i buy the sticky boards, use them and throw them away. they are a sort of sticky backed plastic. cheap. I think I bought them from the men who sell those varroa sticks (the sachets of cinnamon, sugar and dilute oxalic acid).

 

[Finman]

.
Pure water is very good when you work with hives.

Honey and resin in fingers and add baby powder there? - What a gloves!

 

[Polyanwood]

The talcum powder goes inside the gloves not on the bees.

 

[grizzly]

I read that bit jenxy, and i thought it a tad strange so i tried it, cant say it made much of a difference, i tried with gloves on and gloves off. it wont stop them stinging. its better to get the manipulation right and develop good handling skills.

I actually enjoyed that book, but when reading any publications from the states always take into account that their practices do differ from ours so may not be entirely suitable.

 

[Poly Hive]

Might not be suitable is a MAJOR understatement.

PH

 

[Geoff]

I thought it was a dead mite count that you did so the board did not have to be sticky for that....cause they are not going to walk away. If more than 5/day die naturally then you have to treat. You make it sticky to stop any live ones jumping back up.
I put one in recently and smeared it with olive oil to carch any live mites dropping down. i put the board in to catch the wax cappings that fall down. Someone told me that the cappings over brood are darker than wax cappings over honey. And I can see darker bands where i persume the young bees are coming out - it saves bothering the bees early in the season but you want to know if the queen is still active.

 

[hedgerow pete]

i use for my stick board a sheet of news paper and a heavy smear of vasiline when you have finished see what you have and put the lot in the compost bin

 

[victor meldrew]

I thought it was a dead mite count that you did so the board did not have to be sticky for that....cause they are not going to walk away. If more than 5/day die naturally then you have to treat. You make it sticky to stop any live ones jumping back up.
I put one in recently and smeared it with olive oil to carch any live mites dropping down. i put the board in to catch the wax cappings that fall down. Someone told me that the cappings over brood are darker than wax cappings over honey. And I can see darker bands where i persume the young bees are coming out - it saves bothering the bees early in the season but you want to know if the queen is still active.

The test is natural mite fall, dead or alive, the daily count gives a clue as to the amount carred by the colony and whether or not treatment is required .

John