Pollen dropped through floor - ?remove to deter wasps?

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

nelletap

House Bee
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
409
Reaction score
0
Location
Great Kingshill, Bucks, UK
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2 - and a promising bait hive
I can't see a thread about exactly this and I apologise if my lack of knowledge means it is a silly question!
My wasp problem is not too bad at all, but they do seem to skirt around under the hive and I wondered whether it is good practice to use a hand held vac to hoover up pollen debris that has come through the open floor? I have just one hive and have none very close - probably nearest is just under a mile - which is why I have been so fortunate I think - lots of forage and no evidence of varroa!
I am very careful about not spilling syrup and any comb bits. Mostly the floor is open though I have it in place to monitor for varroa at times. I did try a wasp trap but my instinct was that it encouraged the blighters.
 
I would just clean the varroa tray by wiping it on the grass. The pollen shouldn't encourage wasps although I suppose theoretically they might come looking for mites feeding on the pollen but at this time of year they are likely to be after bigger game.

Worried about your comment "no evidence of varroa". Assuming you don't live in one of the few varroa free locations in the UK, if you really do have a varroa free colony declare it a Site of Special Apicultural Interest and charge people to come and view it. I would say it is safest to assume you have varroa and treat for it. Otherwise you risk the colony's chances of surviving the winter.
 
I did put on a first treatment 2 weeks ago but even then. no evidence of any mite drop. It stopped the queen laying and as mine was a new colony that was a worry - that it would mean the colony was not strong enough to see the winter through.
The person I got them from writes for bee keeping publications so must surely be knowledgeable and he said there had been none in the area where my bees were from though he said they would need treating. I was starting to fret about the second treatment for the varroa and then saw 2 things which, though I thought were not varroa, were the nearest I had seen. I took off the board and covered it with cling film so I could examine with a microscope I had on order. However, my mentor came yesterday and he had a look under a magnifier and declared them to be pollen and when I assured him that was the nearest thing to anything that looked like mites at any time even when the first treatment was on, he said then he felt no treatment was necessary. I had been thinking of using icing sugar or the hive clean treatment because I thought it would give me more 'evidence' as to whether there was a problem that needed more drastic action. I know many beekeepers locally treat during September once they have removed their honey supers so this would have left time whilst it was likely to still be warm enough in the SE. Treating at the same time as other beekeepers would presumably have benefits as well.
I will remain vigilant; I realise it does seem very unlikely. I don't think mine is a varroa free location (where are these wonderful places?)
This is another of those questions I'll put down to ask either my mentor or other local experts (seeing one on Monday).
I do find each answer I get an answer to a question it just raises another question ... but then everyone is so helpful I learn more and more.
T
 
The person I got them from writes for bee keeping publications so must surely be knowledgeable and he said there had been none in the area where my bees were from though he said they would need treating. T

Can you say where this area is that is varroa free? If it is not the Isle of Man or some remote area of the Highlands and Islands trust me when I say you friend is talking out of the back of his head.

I was talking to a beginner yesterday whose bees had been kept in the branch apiary over the summer and the people running the apiary had "kindly" fogged the bees with oxalic acid 4 times in recent months and she was assured the varroa were not a problem.

She is now seeing lots of bees crawling with varroa and I have suggested she applies thymol ASAP, which she is going to do this weekend.

It could well be you have a colony very low on varroa, but you don't need a microscope to see varroa unless you have bad eyesight. So if there really aren't any of the distinctive dark red ovals on the varroa tray and you are otherwise treating correctly then you are indeed in luck.
 
We have only just put the OMF on our hve this week. Before that, we had the solid floor during our wasp attack. They did the same thing, skirting under the hive. Nothing could have dropped through the floor so it must just be something they do. I am by no means experienced, but I spent a lot of time watching ( and fretting, unnessecarily it seems lol ) and that was one of the things that stood out to me also, I did wonder why they do that.
 
Back
Top