managing bees, what do you do?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Did you expect anything else?

 

[oliver90owner]

Here are a few of the things I do to manage my bees.

Then list a load of unnecessary claptrap?

Thanks, but nothing wrong with leavingbhives in a full, sunny position.
You decrying the Warre system?
I don't interfere with my bees unless deemed necessary. Bad practice. Hefting should be adequate and if they have more than sufficient stores at the start of the wintercweather, they will not run short until spring.

The rest of the post is basc claptrap, too. Mostly simple beekeeping, so nothing special. He's never seen a hive which doesn't need the bottom board cleaning? Try an OMF as the bottom board. Simples.

Finny, with a metre of snow, might disagree about frost pockets, too! Fairly irrelevant when covered in snowall winter.

There are basic things that need to be done when necessary. Not necessarily 'regular' or even every year. And waiting until the colony is 'in trouble' is often too late. Simple observation is the key, with taking action as appropriate. KISS principle in operation!

 

[Fusion_power]

Then list a load of unnecessary claptrap?

The intent is to discuss what you do and see if there are reasons to do anything different. That you think it is claptrap might suggest the difference between my climate and yours. When the temp is 45C for 3 weeks in mid-July and hives are in full sun, combs will soften and detach from the top bar if the hives are not properly prepared. I don't know if you have ever dealt with a hive that melted down, but I assure you it is a sticky nasty mess. Plenty of ventilation, ready access to water, and hives painted white so they don't absorb heat become very very important.


finman, I found the reason why polyisocyanurate is not used. It is a brittle insulation that can degrade over time. Polystyrene is more flexible and less susceptible to ultraviolet and other degrading factors.

 

[B+.]

Plenty of ventilation, ready access to water, and hives painted white so they don't absorb heat become very very important.

Polystyrene is a very good insulator. It works equally well in keeping them cool in summer as it does in keeping them warm in winter. I suggest you try it.

 

[user 6228]

PIR board is normally faced an sealed with aluminium tape so it doesn't degrade. When used this way in thicknesses of 25mm and above it is strong rigid light and durable. It is extensively used in the UK building trade at thicknesses upto 200mm. 140mm is commonly available. 100 mm of PIR is equivalent to 150mm of expanded polystyrene.
The durability, ease of cutting and mechanical stress does vary from vendor to vendor. I have found the recticel brand the best of brands that I tried.

Why no moulded PIR hives commercially available? no demand, no demand for EPS either and EPS moulding has an infrastructure and industry set up all ready. So to support the tiny hive market they only do EPS. Most EPS hives are not primarily designed to be warm but as a wood substitute. You can see this in the large hand holds and thin mating surfaces that let heat out. Oddly the worst example I have tested comes from Finland

 

[B+.]

100 mm of pir is equivalent to 150mm of expanded polystyrene.

For the sake of clarity, is that the high density polystyrene that hives are usually made of, or the type used in construction?

 

[user 6228]

For the sake of clarity, is that the high density polystyrene that hives are usually made of, or the type used in construction?

That is the high density. When you look at thermal conductivity figures for high and low density there is not much difference. The high density performs a little better than the low. Bigger differences occur on the expanding gas employed. References for this and the variation of conductivity with temperature are in my paper IRC

 

[beeno]

Here are a few of the things I do to manage my bees.

Then list a load of unnecessary claptrap?

Thanks, but nothing wrong with leavingbhives in a full, sunny position.
You decrying the Warre system?
I don't interfere with my bees unless deemed necessary. Bad practice. Hefting should be adequate and if they have more than sufficient stores at the start of the wintercweather, they will not run short until spring.

The rest of the post is basc claptrap, too. Mostly simple beekeeping, so nothing special. He's never seen a hive which doesn't need the bottom board cleaning? Try an OMF as the bottom board. Simples.

Finny, with a metre of snow, might disagree about frost pockets, too! Fairly irrelevant when covered in snowall winter.

There are basic things that need to be done when necessary. Not necessarily 'regular' or even every year. And waiting until the colony is 'in trouble' is often too late. Simple observation is the key, with taking action as appropriate. KISS principle in operation!

You were invited to contribute to the OP by explaining what you do, so why don't you expand on the last para for our benefit?

 

[beeno]

That about covers it.
We don't have small hive beetle yet so will have to learn those practices as the need arises.

Our main defense against small hive beetle in the UK, when it arrives is that we have a broodless period, as phoretic beetles can only live for 2 days without brood. To the forum - cosies off or on should SHB arrive?

OP thanks for your input. Sorry about negativity from some quarters. Perhaps you can be kind enough to expand on your SHB strategies?

 

[user 6228]

Our main defense against small hive beetle in the UK, when it arrives is that we have a broodless period, as phoretic beetles can only live for 2 days without brood. To the forum - cosies off or on should SHB arrive?

OP thanks for your input. Sorry about negativity from some quarters. Perhaps you can be kind enough to expand on your SHB strategies?

With High MCR egg laying stops seems to have more to do with forage shortage/ bad weather and flow ends. Actually research (mobius) shows that most colonies in conventional hives with cold climates dont have a complete brood stop, the closest they get to it is in December.
As usual its not as simple as some books would have you believe

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Our main defense against small hive beetle in the UK, when it arrives is that we have a broodless period, as phoretic beetles can only live for 2 days without brood.

What an absolute load of claptrap.

Beginners are well advised to ignore these ramblings

 

[Teemore]

I was under the impression that research has so far failed to identify just how long SHB can survive outside a colony of bees. Do they not lay eggs on rotting fruit when they have no beehives to invade?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I know they do not have a 'phoretic' stage - bees control them by herding them into nooks and crannies and imprisoning them - SHB survive as they can stimulate the bees' mandibles to get fed. It's a strange symbiosis.

Upon emerging from the ground (where they pupate), adult small hive beetles search for honey bee colonies, probably identifying the host colony by a suite of olfactory cues. Investigators have shown that small hive beetles fly before or just after dusk and odors from adult bees and various hive products (honey, pollen) are attractive to flying small hive beetles (Elzen and Neumann 2004). Some investigators have suggested that small hive beetles also may find host colonies by detecting the honey bee alarm pheromone (Elzen and Neumann 2004). Additionally, small hive beetles carry a yeast (Kodamaea ohmeri) on their bodies that produces a compound very similar to honey bee alarm pheromone when deposited on pollen reserves in the hive.

Upon locating and entering the host colony, adult small hive beetles seek out cracks and crevices where they hide from bee aggression. These locations are often referred to as 'prisons' (Ellis 2005). Remarkably, honey bees station guards around the prisons where small hive beetles hide. The 'prison guard' bees keep the small hive beetles confined to the cracks and out of the brood combs where there is an ample supply of honey, pollen, and brood on which small hive beetles reproduce. Small hive beetles do not starve in these prisons as they are able to solicit food from their bee captors. In this behavior, small hive beetles use their antennae to rub the bees' mandibles and induce the bees to regurgitate. Small hive beetles then feed on the regurgitated food (Ellis 2005, Ellis and Hepburn 2006).

Mating behavior of small hive beetles (including whether female small hive beetles mate once or multiple times) is not understood, but adult small hive beetles do not appear to be sexually mature until about one week post-emergence from the soil. If allowed to reproduce, female small hive beetles will oviposit directly onto food sources such as pollen or brood combs. Alternatively, female small hive beetles may deposit irregular masses of eggs in crevices or cavities away from the bees as female ovipositors are long and flexible, being perfectly designed to lay eggs in tiny and concealed places. A female small hive beetle may lay 1,000 eggs in her lifetime

Phoretic my A....unt Fanny

 

[Teemore]

Thought I had remembered correctly:
"In addition, SHB are not restricted to honey bee colonies, being able to survive on rotting fruit and can go without food for up to 10 days in the adult stage. This may also contribute to their dispersal. In winter, adult SHB can live within the honey bee cluster." (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

• JBM - Is that a Jamie Ellis quote?

 

[Into the lions den]

What an absolute load of claptrap.

Beginners are well advised to ignore these ramblings

Might just be a mix up. If you substitute Tropilaelaps clarea for small hive beetle it is not far from correct.

 

[Fusion_power]

Small hive beetles are somewhat controlled by freezes in winter which can kill the overwintering pupa in the soil. Beyond that, the bees tend to behave aggressively toward the beetles which causes them to hide in corners and crevices in the hive. One thing you will learn is to reduce the number of crevices to a minimum. The most underappreciated aspect of hive beetles is that adults will consume bee eggs which can put a hive into crisis. Bees form a protective shell around the brood nest and exclude beetles from the shell to varying degrees. Beetle resistant bees do a better job of maintaining this shell. This is very similar to the way winter clusters are formed, but present any time brood is present. It is very important to keep hives strong and disrupt the brood nest as little as possible. Beetles are opportunists that take advantage of disruptions to get into the brood nest to feed and lay eggs. Queenless colonies are especially vulnerable to beetles, especially at the stage where laying workers begin to lay.

 

[beeno]

Might just be a mix up. If you substitute Tropilaelaps clarea for small hive beetle it is not far from correct.

Thank you for the very polite correction ITLD.

 

[oliver90owner]

Claptrap proven? (Yet again)

 

[Swarm]

My daughter told me SHB were to be found all over the place, no point worrying about the hives as they often find them indoors. Son in law makes quite light of them tbh.

 

[Fusion_power]

Does your daughter by chance live in South Africa? Bees in Africa adapted to hive beetles long ago by acting aggressively toward them and by closing the shell around the brood nest to keep beetles out.