Deformed wing virus

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Tainted honey or dead bees - difficult choice really.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Tainted honey or dead bees - difficult choice really.

Oh, I’d take the dead bees, every time.
Just get new bees

 

[bingevader]

Oh, I’d take the dead bees, every time.
Just get new bees

Oh dear.
Not sure what else to say really.
Unless it was meant as a joke and you forgot all the emojis!

 

[Millet]

Tainted honey or dead bees - difficult choice really.

Not a difficult choice really if you have half of a brain cell.. .. i am not so lucky as i only have a quarter but what i would do with my small part of a brain cell is work out a treatment that will save the bees and also the honey.. it's not hard is it..

 

[Millet]

oh, i’d take the dead bees, every time.
Just get new bees

mmm ?? .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not a difficult choice really if you have half of a brain cell.. .. i am not so lucky as i only have a quarter

Glad we agree on one thing.
Again I'll concede to your vast knowledge and years of experience on this one.
Oh, and I suppose I should congratulate you on your sudden grasp of grammar and expanded vocabulary.

 

[Newbeebeekeeper]

My bees will be a while yet before they are making honey for me.
I am hoping to split the hive first then see if i can put on a super a while after they have built up.

Should i be killing and bees that i see that have deformed wings?

 

[Beefriendly]

Should i be killing and bees that i see that have deformed wings?

I suggest if you are seeing bees with DWV you need to treat them for varroa PDQ. Use something that works not snake-oil.

 

[Millet]

Glad we agree on one thing.
Again I'll concede to your vast knowledge and years of experience on this one.
Oh, and I suppose I should congratulate you on your sudden grasp of grammar and expanded vocabulary.

Ya can't help thee self can yee, the only reason i have a grasp on anything is because both of my eye ball's are firing on all cylinders, without spec's/glasses/ bifocals/monocle/magnifying glasses you name it my mince pies are spot on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Should i be killing and bees that i see that have deformed wings?

They are already dead. They don’t pose a threat to the other bees but what is killing them does so you need to attend to whole colony health, in this case the varroa load

 

[Newbeebeekeeper]

Just an update. Back from work trip and there are loads of bees now and less than 10 that i could see with the deformed wings.

I also seen a queen cell with no larva in it so i assumed it was a play cup and smooshed it.

Next question it looks like i will have a stack of drones soon and i have brood on 5 frames on both sides. However there is real other drawn comb in the hive and they done seem to be that keen on doing it.

The drone cells and play cup are making me nervous as i dont have enough bees for a split yet. Is there any way i can encourage them to draw comb a light sugar syrup perhaps? They are still being treated for the varroa as well

Thanks

 

[JWF]

If there's not enough bees they're unlikely to swarm. The whole point of swarming is to create two or more viable colonies.

 

[Newbeebeekeeper]

Hi i ment that there arent 7/8 frames of brood for me to split them which is what i picked up as being a good number

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi i ment that there arent 7/8 frames of brood for me to split them which is what i picked up as being a good number

Colonies don't swarm the minute a few drones and play cups appear. Weekly inspections should keep you on top of things so that you can split when you see queen cells?

 

[Newbeebeekeeper]

Is there a way to encourage them to draw comb? I understood that they only draw comb when there is a nectar flow on. Can i add sugar water feed to help with this