The day was lovely with a high of 13. The day before it was mostly overcast and under 10 degrees so when Sunday rolled around with a bright sunny warm sky I knew it was time to open the hive.The purpose of this visit was to remove the Formic Acid Pads which had been in the hive for 26 days (a full brood cycle).
I'm sure the bees will be especially glad to have that stinky thing removed. The mite drops with the pad in were remarkable and I could tell it was necessary to ensure the hives survived the winter.
Next I put in the last of the AFB treatment, mixed with sugar powder. It's sitting on waxed paper. I also added some caster sugar which is just regular sugar but ground up into a really super fine powder.I wanted to use this kind of sugar because I know that the icing powder sugar has corn starch in it which the bees can't really digest. I added it as a plain powder (pictured on the right) and I also made up a chunky paste with it by adding sugar syrup to the powder to make a heavy paste. I'm hoping the bees will feed on this on the days when they don't feel inclined to eat the cold sugar syrup sitting on top of the hive.
I was pleased to see Hive #2 were busy taking syrup from the hive top feeder. I could observe them through the plastic pane. This is the hive that Henry said needed feeding so it was a relief to see them eating.
I didn't see bees feeding on Hive #1 but that's not to say they're not. I got a little delayed to look at this hive because a school bus of university students showed up at the orchard for an info session and because I was there I was able to give them an impromptu lesson on honey bees. It was fun.
Hive #2 was more active coming and going from the hive than #1. I added the pink entrance reducers and waited around for a bit to watch the returning bees figure out the new reduced way of getting into the hive.
I've temporarily duct taped the reducers in place. That's because in a couple weeks I'll be adding the bee cozies which are to rest on the nail in the reducer. What I haven't figured out yet is whether I need to nail the reducer down to keep it from moving once the cozie is in place. Any suggestions anyone?
I noticed a few bumble bees, yellow jackets and lady bugs flying around. They could probably smell the sugar syrup, that and the warm sunshine would have attracted them. I put one bumble bee in my sugar paste jar for a bit for a little sugar snack. She certainly didn't mind.The season is coming to a close as I prepare the bees as best I can for winter. We all think it will be a long cold winter like last year. I'll do my best to help them get through it.
9 comments:
We have mites bad in one of our hives. I'm kicking myself for not doing the formic acid treatment. We tried powdered sugar today and are hoping for the best. How cool that you gave an impromptu lesson! Jess
What is the amount of formic acid pads em?
Wishing and hoping the bees do fine over your long cold winter!
Jess - is there any way you could add the Formic pads now? It may not be too late. And there is a treatment which can be done in the middle of winter when there's snow on the ground - Oxyalic Acid - you have to open the hive and use a drip syringe to drip it on the bees.
I hope everything goes okay for your hive.
Ali Turk - the Formic Acid pads were premeasured in sealed packages. All I had to do was open the sealed package and place the pad in the hive. I'll put photos on my blog this week so you can see what they look like.
Dear Barbara,Can I learn your mix percentage?We add 1 liter formic acide mix 300 ml water and we give as 4 cc per hive.Do you use same percentage,best wishes and regards.Stay well.
Best wishes to you and your lady workers Barbara. I hope they have a decent rest during the coming cold spells and keep each other nice and warm.
Hello Barbara I wish you the best results with the application you made.
İlhami Uyar: I used the large pre-filled Mite Away II pads. They have 250 ml of 65 % Formic Acid in them. I left them in the hive 25 days.
The are also smaller pads that have 35 ml of 65% formic in them x 6 or 7 applications 4 to 7 days apart to give the same result.
Post a Comment