wasps

[mintmoth]

Now now, we're in the beginners section.

You must be nice to all!

David asked, should he reduce the entrance to its smallest size ?

My reply was a very urgent, YES!

No, Martin, you shouted at him. And your opening line seems to me very close to sarcasm. He wasn't deaf, he was a BEGINNER worried what to do about his bees

We're in the beginners section here aren't we?

YES!

 

[MartinL]

My point is that @ an hour before he said,

"I have a lot of wasps around the hive and some try to go in
Should I reduce the entrance to the smallest size ?

"; I warned him just exactly that !

better still reduce the open space inside with some insulation. This will give them a smaller area, better to keep warm during the damp cold days & easier to defend.



I wouldn't be feeding them syrup at this time of year but if you think it's necessary, I'd have the entrance closed to 1-2 bee space & Tray IN. You're going to attract the attention of the Jaspers very easily in late July!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

My point is that @ an hour before he said,

"; I warned him just exactly that !

There seems to have been some editing of posts involved and inclusion of others from different sections of the forum.
Maybe lessons to be/have been learned in approach to newcomer questions and replies?

 

[BernardBlack]

Watched the hive entrance earlier. Seen a single wasp enter and leave a couple of times. Watched it hassle (for the want of a better word) 3/4 bees around entrance, who flew off when hassled.

Is that normal? Anything to worry about?

 

[Millet]

It is normal but keep a eye on the hive, for some strange reason the wasps have gone quiet around my hives but i have tunnel entrances and also underfloor entrances which makes it hard work for the wasps to gain entry.

 

[Wingy]

Had one yesterday trying to get in everywhere except the entrance it was checking out the joints between nuc & eke then eke & roof before flying off defeated. Mine is only a 5 frame langstroth ply nuc insulated with 50mm kingspan, small entrance with a piece of glass propped against it

 

[BernardBlack]

It is normal but keep a eye on the hive, for some strange reason the wasps have gone quiet around my hives but i have tunnel entrances and also underfloor entrances which makes it hard work for the wasps to gain entry.

Will keep an eye out.

I understand reducing the entrances or putting in an entrance block. But will that affect the bees coming and going? Obviously it will slow the foragers down as there's more traffic, but are there any other drawbacks to having a smaller entrance particularly if the foragers are many?

 

[maddydog]

Will keep an eye out.

I understand reducing the entrances or putting in an entrance block. But will that affect the bees coming and going? Obviously it will slow the foragers down as there's more traffic, but are there any other drawbacks to having a smaller entrance particularly if the foragers are many?

The bees will sort themselves out even when the entrance is busy. A positive effect is that bees blocking the entrance means less room for wasps to enter

 

[Kenson]

We (Kensie, 9) and I just spent an hour by our Nuc. No Wasps. I go down 2 or 3 times a day, I've never seen a wasp near it. I did once see a bee try to go on and immediately shoot back out, I mean it shot 6 inches out of the hive in a straight line before re-orientating and flying off. I figured this was a "robbing attempt", which they foiled, most pleasing.

Today we went down ~11:30, and bees were coming and going. They ran out of "feed" a couple of days ago and I left it so they could "clean out" the mess that the was once "Candipolline" (it has melted in the heat of the NUC (Poly) and trapped a load of Bees!

About 12:00 the regular "coming and going" turned into quite a cloud of bees, which I think was "Orientation" flights. Now that could be robbing, but a number of the bees came out and crawled around on the front of the Nuc, quite a few flew up into the air, clearly went nowhere and came back to the cloud. There was no fighting.

Worries me though, robbing, and with such limited experience, I can see why beginners ask questions. But that's a good thing

We're all different, and have different senses of humour. But I think we do all need to have a "thickish" skin and be prepared to "take a bit" (of ribbing etc.), I didn't see anything wrong with what Martin said, but equally I can see that it could be hurtful if taken the wrong way.

It is a great shame if someone left. We live and learn.

K