A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[Leahs Mom]

Question for you Bee peeps...

I want to set up a nuc box as a swarm catcher. When I look at all the variations of nuc boxes, and not having had experience with them, I am just guessing which type to get. Since I'm going to purchase one, I thought I'd ask for everyone's recommendations....what kind have you used and why do/don't you like them?

 

[Lapeerian]

Hi, I lost one of my seven hives to moths. Now what??? 2016 was the first time we ever had bee's, the other hives did well over winter. But now I'm scared the moths will move to the other hives. Any help would be much appreciated please

@rebrascora is correct, wax moth overcomes a weak failing hive, not the cause. Depending on the extent of invasion and quality of the equipment would direct your course of action. If this was old equipment and you really don't need it, discard. If it is new equipment that you can't afford to lose, scrape off and discard all the bad wax, dip in bleach water to clean up the yuck, put the frames in the freezer. This will kill off any remaining wax moth larva. When we are storing any extra frames, they all get a turn through the freezer before being packed away with paramoth crystals.

 

[tmoore8595]

Question for you Bee peeps...

I want to set up a nuc box as a swarm catcher. When I look at all the variations of nuc boxes, and not having had experience with them, I am just guessing which type to get. Since I'm going to purchase one, I thought I'd ask for everyone's recommendations....what kind have you used and why do/don't you like them?

http://www.naturalbeekeeping.com.au/Bait Hives for Honey Bees - Seeley.pdf

http://www.michiganbees.org/2013/catching-spring-swarms/

http://www.horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/swarm-trap-free-plans.shtml

http://www.horizontalhive.com/honeybee-swarm-trap/bait-hive-how-to-catch.shtml

https://honeybeesuite.com/my-design-for-a-bait-hive/

 

[CLSranch]

Howdy Beek's and New Bee's.
I'm hoping to get started with bee's this year. I have (or hope I still do) a hive in my back yard in a tree. There was a hive 1/4 mile from my old place 2 years ago. Hoping to set some swarm traps I just built here and at my old neighbor's house to get started. I just ordered frames to go in the traps to just switch into a Langstroth hive or 2 that hope to bee getting soon. Swarm season is still a month or 2 away so I have a little time.

 

[noble]

@noble


In my experience wax moth is a symptom of a weak and/or failing hive rather than the cause of it. A strong hive will keep wax moth at bay. A swarm will even take over a hive that has died out and been decimated by wax moth, clean it out and start anew and be perfectly healthy....it is the natural cycle of things in the wild. A swarm will move into a hollow tree, build comb and live there for multiple seasons extending the nest each year then eventually die out for whatever reason, wax moth and mice move in and utilise the comb etc, breaking some of it down, then come swarming season the following year or maybe even 2 or 3 years later, a new swarm moves in, cleans up and reuses whatever comb can be salvaged and strips out and rebuilds whatever cannot.

Are you sure it is wax moth and not small hive beetle as the larvae from that can be more destructive I believe.....we don't have small hive beetle in the UK yet, so I have no experience of that.

If you are sure it is wax moth, then I would not be overly concerned about the other colonies unless they have other issues and are also weak. 
If you can take photos of the comb from the failed colony and post if on this thread, it might be possible to determine what they died from..... Was there any honey left and was there brood? Did you see any varroa fras ....it's small white deposits in the brood cells, particularly noticeable if you turn the frames upside down and look into the cells as it usually gets deposited on the top edge of the cells, so not so obvious when you look down on the frames. Queen failure is another common cause of decline. Did you find the queen? Were the bees head first in the cells? Were there lots of dead bees in the hive or very few? When was the last time you can be sure they were alive? Sometimes activity at the entrance is actually other bees robbing out the stores after a colony has died or is weak, so that can be misleading.

At least you have plenty of other colonies to restock this hive from in a couple of months time.

Regards

Barbara

thank you so much, I will take pictures soon. I put all the frames in the freezer to kill off any that were left. We harvested the hive from the wild out of a trailer that was going to be tor down, it was a small hive. I'll post as soon as I can.

 

[Jedwards]

My hive made it this year!! After both died out the previous year I was nervous. I'm currently trying to learn the correct way to make a split. TONS of vids on youtube. I spent 3 hrs the other night watching and check out a book from the library. It's go time

 

[CLSranch]

Congrats and hope you have some succesful splits.

 

[tjbaker70]

Great to see a thread on here for beekeeping! I am preparing to receive a nuc of Russians in late May. I'm interested to follow along here to hear what other beekeepers are up to!

 

[supersymmetry]

I am so thankful that all of you are keeping bees. Please do not get discouraged, I know things are harder then ever before! I am keeping all of you and your apiaries in my thoughts and prayers! Hope you have strong hives coming into Spring and especially into this next Winter. The two are inextricably linked!

 

[Jedwards]

I am so thankful that all of you are keeping bees. Please do not get discouraged, I know things are harder then ever before! I am keeping all of you and your apiaries in my thoughts and prayers! Hope you have strong hives coming into Spring and especially into this next Winter. The two are inextricably linked!

Thank you!