Beginners !!! Wasp management

[bingevader]

A Ridiculous assertion on your part

Hardly an assertion, I started with an "If" for starters!

A 'heads up' is common speak for 'watchout and stop what you're doing and consider whether you need to take action'

Once you have taken stock, you can either take action or do nothing and continue as you were. Up to you.

KR

S

But this is my problem, you haven't posted a rounded picture of the situation (I've left in the biggest assertions rather than quoting the whole lot!):

Dear New Beeks

Heads up. You may be in your first or second year, with a Nuc or a small colony, or a couple of colonies for that matter

Wasps are already starting to make their presence known and felt in areas.

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN ?!?!??

1. Immediately close up your entrances...

2. WBC Owners - now is the time to reverse an entrance block to completely closed one side and wasp entrance the other side...

7. Destroy any wasp nests found within 500m with ant powder

I'm posting this as there is nothing worse than colonies being destroyed by wasps and we all want our colonies to thrive.

Don't delay, treat for wasps TODAY !

Please bump this post !!

You made lots of statements, not all of them true or necessary.
You haven't, until now, suggested we could take them or leave them.
They're not merely your suggestions for us to follow, they're more like a warning.

And you finish up with:

KR and happy Wasp hunting

Somerford

Lets try not to, unless absolutely necessary, please.

 

[Beefriendly]

in a layman's terms the symptoms and effects of Kounis to look out for? Since it has been said to be overlooked or misdiagnosed it seems sensible to know what to be aware of.

Described in simple terms it manifests itself as heart condition (anything from heart attack to angina) that was caused by an immune response originating from a previous allergic reaction to something, such as an insect bite or sting from bees or wasps. The delay in time from the allergic reaction and a future arising future heart condition made it difficult to link the two events together. It is still poorly understood. Although it can happen quickly as in this case study on a patient with an existing serious heart condition.
Here is a link to bee sting related Kounis syndrome.
Hope that is an understandable, albeit simple, explanation.

 

[Somerford]

Bing - you're really out of your depth.

Everything I posted in post 1 are actions to be taken by anyone suffering wasp predation of their hives. It can and does creep up on all sorts of beekeepers and if you don't take action in a timely manner, or indeed aren't ahead of the curve (I know you'll love that statement) then you're at risk of loosing a colony.

Or even 2

Or even more.

As a beekeeper with many years of experience in dealing with wasps, they seem to be becoming more voracious than I recall when I started out and I recommend beekeepers deal with the issue in the manner I stated.

Your choice to hug the wasp is your own and I don't have any issue with that. I think to knowingly allow a colony to be robbed out (not just honey but eggs, grubs and immature unhatched bees) is irresponsible and a lazy way of dealing with a weak colony, but no doubt you'll claim it's just natures way.

You did make a ridiculous assertion and I doubt very much you'd take the same approach were you to speak to me face to face but then I find there's been a lot of that on this forum over the years.

New beekeepers don't have the experience to spot issues before they get out of control. I hate to see newbeeks upset about loosing a new colony or Nuc to wasp predation and sadly I, Nor YOU can be on hand to give them the hand holding they require , and more so today than in the past people are taking up Beekeeping without full knowledge or even being members of their local BBKA, or worse, having just had a dodgy taster event that made it look all too easy.

Perhaps instead of knocking people you'd like to share your bountiful knowledge of non-invasive wasp management on a new thread for beekeepers to take stock of and then make their own mind up.

Happy Wasp Destroying

KR

S

 

[Somerford]

I thought I'd add some photos of the waspbanes at work....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bingevader]

You may think I'm out of my depth, you're entitled to your opinion.
My opinion is that you're missing the point.

You've written a list of actions that to a newcomer might actually seem quite frightening.
You're saying now that they're recommendations, they don't come over that way.

I'm sure you're very experienced, I've never questioned that.

I'm certainly not a wasp hugger, I find their stings as uncomfortable as the next person.
We had to remove the beginnings of a nest in school because it was right above an outdoor play area, I've no qualms about that.

It's not wise to accuse someone of being irresponsible when you are not in possession of all the facts.
As I had already written, the colony was already finished, the wasps just cleared it out.
The hive entrance had already been reduced to 1 bee space because of it's poor strength long before any wasps arrived.
I would not have used any of the honey, because of the continued treatments we had tried.

As I already said, grammatically I made no assertion.
However, your first post does ask for it to be bumped suggesting it is requiring of some recognition or merit?

Yep, new beeks do need advice, but not a list of must-does, to be ignored at their peril!
Because, as the old saying goes, and is evident on a daily basis here, if you ask 4 beekeepers a question, you'll get four different answers.

Nope, not knocking, just pointing out the gross generalisations.

Why would I need to start a new thread on wasp management, when we have on already!?
I have no list of non-invasive (? do you mean non-destructive or non-exterminatory?) wasp-management, the majority of your list isn't!
I just practice wasp-management as and when necessary, not because some list says I have to.
For example, I have no issue with wasps at my other hives at the moment.
Why would I restrict their access to the hive entrance when they've been piling in with nectar and honey in vast numbers?
At no point do you say, "where necessary", or "where appropriate", or give advice on when that might be!

What I definitely do not agree with and should not be given as general advice to all new bee keepers is to "Destroy any wasp nest with in 500m"!
Not only is it completely impractical and probably impossible, it's also a waste of time and unnecessary.

Happy Wasp Destroying?
Each to their own I suppose.

 

[Somerford]

Then I only hope any beginners you coach don't just get your viewpoint on 'management'.....

 

[Beefriendly]

I thought I'd add some photos of the waspbanes at work....

Are we meant to be impressed?
This picture shows what many home made ones achieve.

 

[BenLatimer]

 

[Beefriendly]

IMage

Okay Ben, your wasp is definitely bigger than ours! So big it's screwing up my computer screen. Thanks buddy!

 

[Millet]

 

[bingevader]

Then I only hope any beginners you coach don't just get your viewpoint on 'management'.....

The irony of this is that most of my wasp management is similar to yours!
I just decide myself how and when to apply it, or not, rather than having to do it all now because you've said so.

But good Lord! I certainly don't consider myself a good enough bee keeper to coach beginners!

However, you can rest assured, if that time ever comes, they'll only ever get the full picture and then be asked to make up their own minds.
I certainly don't have all the answers.
But, come to think of it neither do most of the books I've read.
They all differ to one extent or another on the various forms of management, whilst still maintaining they have happy bees that produce plenty of honey.

 

[Karol]

Karol, can you describe in a layman's terms the symptoms and effects of Kounis to look out for? Since it has been said to be overlooked or misdiagnosed it seems sensible to know what to be aware of.

Kounis can present with or without a visible allergic reaction. So you can have symptoms associated with an allergic reaction at the same time that you suffer Kounis symptoms or you may just suffer Kounis on its own. Bearing that in mind I will only address the symptoms that you might experience with Kounis.

Starting at the lower end of the scale you may experience a sensation in the chest similar in feeling to anxiety. Your chest may feel tighter than normal and you may find it difficult to catch your full breath. You may feel tired and unsettled and you may find it hard to focus or have a crowning headache. You may feel dizzy, or confused and if your suffer with tinnitus the ringing may get louder. You may feel nausea. You may get a tingling sensation in your lips which may turn blue and your finger nail beds might not refill with blood very quickly when squeezed. You may get pain running down your left arm and in your left shoulder. You may have tightness in the chest which may become painful. You may experience a vice like sensation around the centre of your chest/heart which may become a crushing pain.

The most important thing to understand is that you may experience these symptoms several days if not a couple of weeks after being stung. Whilst Kounis is generally linked to allergic reactions in truth it can occur in the absence of allergic reactions as well which is when it is hardest to diagnose. One of the things that can happen is that you get contractions of furred up arteries supplying the heart as well as release of chemical which act in tandem to dissolve and weaken the furred part of the arteries (plaque). This can take several days to happen. Once the plaque ruptures you can get blood clots forming which might be small and loose causing mini-strokes before becoming a major clot that causes a full blown heart attack or even stroke.

If you experience any of the above up to two weeks after a wasp sting then get medical attention and don't be afraid to say that you've been stung and raise Kounis with the attending physician. I have had two people now who have experienced Kounis cardiac complications post wasp sting report back after treatment to confirm Kounis. One directly and one via a pest controller who sign posted one of their clients to the danger of Kounis who promptly (albeit unintentionally got stung) and ended up calling out an ambulance.

Hope this helps.

 

[Karol]

Hey Ben, your wasp looks kinda greasy and shiny!

 

[Karol]

Are we meant to be impressed?
This picture shows what many home made ones achieve.

For the benefit of beginners this video at 53 seconds shows how wasps escape from such a low efficiency trap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMz6ypzJKOM

Please be advised that low efficiency traps will make your wasp problem worse and will potentially expose you to greater risk.