What is Hive Clear?

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kazmcc

Queen Bee
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
3,147
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Location
Longsight, Manchester, UK
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
None, although I have my eye on one ( Just don't tell Dusty ;) )
Our mentor told me he intends to treat them with hive clear later on. We put the last strips of Apilife in last night......I'm not speaking to our bees anymore, they were mean :leaving:
 
Hive clear and nasty bees

is it what pest controllers use to kill off nasty feral colonies trapped in walls/chimneys ;-)
 
Hive clean

seriously - i think he means BEEVITAL® HIVE CLEAN - another "natural" varroa treatment.
apparently stimulates bees to clean themselves (ie it's expensive icing sugar!).
 
seriously - i think he means BEEVITAL® HIVE CLEAN - another "natural" varroa treatment.
apparently stimulates bees to clean themselves (ie it's expensive icing sugar!).

lol, that's the one :) Although after yesterday, I would prefer the former ( not really, but that's what I'm telling the bees next time :p )
 
Our mentor told me he intends to treat them with hive clear later on. We put the last strips of Apilife in last night......I'm not speaking to our bees anymore, they were mean :leaving:



Not surprised they were mean, have you smelled the stuff?;)
 
kazmcc

in what way is your bees behaviour "mean" - please clarify.

my nasty UK ones were much better behaved last night (first time in weeks) as i used pillow cases over both boxes and only uncovered what i needed to.

or do you have a problem with followers?
 
Do you use two pillow cases, and move them along to expose one frame at a time?
 
pillow cases

"Do you use two pillow cases, and move them along to expose one frame at a time?"

I would have done if necessary but one seemed enough last night (just keeping bulk of brood covered at once) - just having the super full of bees away and covered reduced the density of the b*gg*rds to cause problems.

i am considering getting our neighbour to sew me a long "table runner" with weighted ends and a central slot for frame retrieval.
 
Our mentor told me he intends to treat them with hive clear later on. We put the last strips of Apilife in last night......I'm not speaking to our bees anymore, they were mean :leaving:

If they're normally OK, and they were mean that day, they were having a bad day. Make them a cup of tea and let them get over it.
 
seriously - i think he means BEEVITAL® HIVE CLEAN - another "natural" varroa treatment.
apparently stimulates bees to clean themselves (ie it's expensive icing sugar!).

Have you tried it DrS?

It works well for cleaning swarms and I use it instead of oxalic in winter.
Cazza
 
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Hive Clean is not icing sugar but is a low dose oxalic acid treatment for use all year round. The downside of it is it has to be used at every inspection, or at least as often as possible.

Varroa Gard is a simliar product but is administered on a tray and only needs topping up a few times a year. One well know Northern Irish beekeeper who trialled it said 12 colonies using VG came through the winter all in one piece and the only hive not to survive the winter was one which had not been treated with VG.

An advantage of this type of treatment is it avoids the shock effect of thymol which has been described so very often on this forum recently.
 
Hive Clean is not icing sugar but is a low dose oxalic acid treatment for use all year round. The downside of it is it has to be used at every inspection, or at least as often as possible.
QUOTE]

When you read the product info it suggests you can use it at every inspection but you certainly don't have to or need to. It is useful when varroa count is high but certainly isn't required all year round.
Cazza
 
seriously - i think he means BEEVITAL® HIVE CLEAN - another "natural" varroa treatment.
apparently stimulates bees to clean themselves (ie it's expensive icing sugar!).

You're thinking of Exomite ?, my local bka uses "hive clean" which is a clear thick liquid/gel.
 
Problem with hive clean is it does not kill the mites,so not much different than sugar.
 
Russel

i did mean hive clean - it may be a thick gel (due to the saccharose in it) but the manufacturers leaflet clearly states that it stimulates grooming. hence my comment NOT re how it is applied.

and no i've never tried it - yet more stuff to spend on before getting anything back from the buggers!!
 
Our mentor told me he intends to treat them with hive clear later on. We put the last strips of Apilife in last night......I'm not speaking to our bees anymore, they were mean :leaving:

Good lesson learned, they can be ‘mean’ and you should be ready for it but will no doubt get caught out just like I did today.

After the rain cleared here today, I went to give some hives at an out apiary some feed. Normally these bees are pussy cats but today they were like menopausal hornets! As I lifted the lid on the first hive they went nuts and I was soon covered with angry bees, I quickly gave them a feed and closed up.

It then took me half an hour away from the hive to finally get them to give up and leave me long enough to take my veil off.

I normally wear a full suit but as I was just ‘popping’ some feed on I decided to use a veil........resulting in 20 stings through my jeans in the most delicate of places!
I only did the one hive so will have to return in the morning fully armed with smoker, full suit and Hc45 cream.
I should have looked more closely at the weather and left the feed until they had a chance to settle after the sxxxy weather today, or taken all my kit and gone in full prepared.
Cheers
S
 
i am considering getting our neighbour to sew me a long "table runner" with weighted ends and a central slot for frame retrieval.

. . . and a central slot for frame retrieval - with a flap to pop closed when the frame is out? Or would that be the Mk II version? :)
 
hombre

"with a flap to pop closed when the frame is out? Or would that be the Mk II version?"

had already considered that!!!!

probably not used often though as when needed to be fully closed would pull the slot over the edge of the box. when examining frames would prefer open slot as if needed to return it pronto (eg when "stang" mid inspection) wouldn't want to have to free up hand to open flap.

But probably good idea to have lightly weighted flap so that if they do get angry it can be flipped closed.

ideal xmas pressies for all your beek friends and relatives!!!!
 
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