Beware Wasps And New Colonies

[Millet]

Beware any newbies who have recently hived a Nuc into a full brood body that are still using the rubbish standard entrance blocks..
I had a Quick look at four the hives on Saturday...two of them where to check on released Queen status and two of them where small colonies building up from Nuc's that had been put in a full brood box three and four weeks ago..all was good on Saturday..
I had another look today at the two new colonies as i was there putting a Queen excluder on a hive that i had forgot to do on Saturday
The one with the tunnel entrance was doing fine however i had ran out of tunnel entrance blocks and under floor entrances a few weeks back.. so i stuck the crappy standard entrance block in the front of one of the colonies but i had forgotten about it..
The one with the standard pathetic entrance block was hours from being dead..all they had left was two super frames with very little in the brood box(more or less nothing) and they where very angry as apposed to being very placid..i quickly raided seven full super frames from a strong colony and give them it and then i changed the entrance block for a freed up tunnel entrance block from another colony.. i also narrowed it down to 20mm so the bees now have a 20mm wide x 100mm long x 9mm deep high tunnel to defend which i witnessed them doing very well shortly after fixing the problem..

Folk might ask how i know it was wasp's and i will tell you why...they was a carpet of dead yellow bodies outside the hive entrance that the bees had valiantly tried to fight of but obviously the wasps had come relentlessly in big numbers emptying the hive of stores in the process.

I know the score with wasps and i could kick myself for leaving that pathetic entrance block in place on a new colony..

I post this in the hope all you new beekeepers burn the entrance blocks you where sold with your hives and convert to Tunnel entrances or Under floor entrances for your newly established colonies..

Less than three days it took the wasps to nae on empty this colony.. if it was not for the the strong nectar flow and me having a look quicker than i normally would have this colony would be dead..
Steve.

 

[Dogged]

What is this tunnel entrance and where do you get them?do they fit Nationals?

 

[TooBee...]

... hours from being dead..all they had left was two super frames with very little in the brood box(more or less nothing) ...

This is very helpful, I'm inexperienced and this is the first time I've witnessed my bees having running battles against wasps.

You said your hive had "very little in the brood box" are you referring to Honey / Nectar or actual brood? I checked a small hive yesterday in which I've seen modest numbers of wasps go in and out, and there are no eggs, but there were eggs just under three days before? Could the wasps have taken the eggs, they were on the near side (to the entrance) of the third frame (frames positioned the warm way)?

 

[Millet]

What is this tunnel entrance and where do you get them?do they fit Nationals?

I make them i will try to find one of my threads.


I found it pretty quick .. the width of these tunnels can be narrowed down again with a shim of wood.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39947&highlight=Tunnel+entrance&page=2

 

[Millet]

This is very helpful, I'm inexperienced and this is the first time I've witnessed my bees having running battles against wasps.

You said your hive had "very little in the brood box" are you referring to Honey / Nectar or actual brood? I checked a small hive yesterday in which I've seen modest numbers of wasps go in and out, and there are no eggs, but there were eggs just under three days before? Could the wasps have taken the eggs, they were on the near side (to the entrance) of the third frame (frames positioned the warm way)?

Stores ..three days ago it had plenty..

 

[TooBee...]

Ah, ok, they only take stores as in nectar / honey, can't figure out why the frame near the entrance which had a patch of eggs now has no eggs or larvae..?

 

[Dogged]

I make them i will try to find one of my threads.


I found it pretty quick .. the width of these tunnels can be narrowed down again with a shim of wood.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39947&highlight=Tunnel+entrance&page=2

Perfect thank you - I now understand and it’s a great idea. So the invaders arrive bang into the hive and get set upon

 

[Millet]

Perfect thank you - I now understand and it’s a great idea. So the invaders arrive bang into the hive and get set upon

They don't get past the entrance if it is narrowed down to 20mm.. even when you do not see guard bees at the entrance the wasps push there luck..99% of the time they come out a bit quicker than they went in quickly followed by several angry bees..

 

[thedozzer]

Hi Millet
i closed down the front of our Masiemore Poly Hive with bits of wood to take it down to 2 bee spaces wide by 1 high on the advice of our mentor but its only about 20mm deep and quite a small colony, do you think that will be good enough or should i make it deeper?

 

[Tony19]

I now like the RoBo block made of aluminium from T's it has the flexibility to narrow the long open slot, or the side with the bee size holes that are offset to confuse any robbers. I only wish I'd fitted it to my weak colony before my strong hive found their stores!

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet
i closed down the front of our Masiemore Poly Hive with bits of wood to take it down to 2 bee spaces wide by 1 high on the advice of our mentor but its only about 20mm deep and quite a small colony, do you think that will be good enough or should i make it deeper?

Personally i would need a picture of the hive entrance.. I also keep hearing about mentors which makes me dubious .. regardless batten those hatches down.. the Waaaaaaps are coming and the Wasbanes did not help me this year.

 

[Millet]

I now like the RoBo block made of aluminium from T's it has the flexibility to narrow the long open slot, or the side with the bee size holes that are offset to confuse any robbers. I only wish I'd fitted it to my weak colony before my strong hive found their stores!

Rubbish IMO unless it goes into the hive 100+mm .. which i doubt.. the name is a money making scam for the inexperienced.

 

[Tony19]

Rubbish IMO unless it goes into the hive 100+mm .. which i doubt.. the name is a money making scam for the inexperienced.

Hi again, I perhaps haven't described it very well, have a look the entrance is 5mm in height and can be narrowed down to zero. Yes it's more expensive than wood but it will last and some people have no woodworking skills. Your advice is spot on regarding robbing, wasps are everywhere at the moment and so are other hives bees to which I've just lost a small nuc.

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet
i closed down the front of our Masiemore Poly Hive with bits of wood to take it down to 2 bee spaces wide by 1 high on the advice of our mentor but its only about 20mm deep and quite a small colony, do you think that will be good enough or should i make it deeper?

Just had a rethink and i get what you mean now.. i had similar problems with a Nuc last year but it was bees doing the robbing..i made a longer entrance out of a piece of square plastic (home made nuc) by the way..you could use a piece of plastic tube of the right diameter to make a 100mm long tube coming out of the Nuc and then build a little box around it so the bees fly directly at the entrance of the tube.

 

[Fritillary]

i had similar problems with a Nuc last year but it was bees doing the robbing..i made a longer entrance out of a piece of square plastic (home made nuc) by the way..you could use a piece of plastic tube of the right diameter to make a 100mm long tube coming out of the Nuc and then build a little box around it so the bees fly directly at the entrance of the tube.

I used a plastic tube like this recently in a Maisemore nuc. It seemed good and was easily fitted.

Eventually though in this case the robbers still got in, and that was that. BUT I think the real issue was, as you might expect, with the weakness of the colony, and possibly (looking at what people have posted elsewhere) the queen had died by then. Either that or she was killed by the robbers.) I think if a colony is as weak as mine was, only moving it could have saved it, since from what I've seen, once robbers - bees or wasps - have identified a hive as an easy target, it seems virtually nothing will fool them. Quite likely it was a lost cause anyway. Will certainly use the plastic tube again though and will try out your entry design Millet on my Nationals if I think they might need it.

 

[thedozzer]

Just had a rethink and i get what you mean now.. i had similar problems with a Nuc last year but it was bees doing the robbing..i made a longer entrance out of a piece of square plastic (home made nuc) by the way..you could use a piece of plastic tube of the right diameter to make a 100mm long tube coming out of the Nuc and then build a little box around it so the bees fly directly at the entrance of the tube.

Hi Millet, pic of the closed down entrance,

Will see how it goes as there have been one or two wasps land on the entrance board but they look at the entrance then bugger off.

Does anyone have any problems with Dragonfly's as we get loads of the big green or red ones round here and we have up to 6 at a time flying round the front garden when its flying ant season, but have noticed they are coming over the bees hives every day at about 12ft up.

Almost like they are waiting to catch them on the way out of the garden?

 

[Tony19]

Just a short note, this may seem obvious but I know a couple of people that have been caught out. Remember to remove and then block any bee escape holes, particularly if feeding sugar solution, the wasps will crawl under the roof and enter the hive through any escapes left in place.

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet, pic of the closed down entrance,

Will see how it goes as there have been one or two wasps land on the entrance board but they look at the entrance then bugger off.

Does anyone have any problems with Dragonfly's as we get loads of the big green or red ones round here and we have up to 6 at a time flying round the front garden when its flying ant season, but have noticed they are coming over the bees hives every day at about 12ft up.

Almost like they are waiting to catch them on the way out of the garden?

If the entrance does not go in 100mm + it is a waste of time.. think like a wasp.. if you can poke your head up into the hive through the entrance block sorted.. if you have to run down a ally way full of bees before you can pop your barnet up what would you choose..

 

[Millet]

Just a short note, this may seem obvious but I know a couple of people that have been caught out. Remember to remove and then block any bee escape holes, particularly if feeding sugar solution, the wasps will crawl under the roof and enter the hive through any escapes left in place.

This does not make sense to me.. sorry but nothing can get under my roofs let alone through the solid crown boards.

 

[Tony19]

This does not make sense to me.. sorry but nothing can get under my roofs let alone through the solid crown boards.

Gaps in the under roof battons and bee escapes left in the crown board I believe.