Things I've learnt on the course .. WARNING ADDED

[Wombat2]

Heaps - and as the old guy says " I teach you stuff you won't read in books " ( I  also been warned that he has some practices that are not generally accepted by his peers )

Clip the wing of the queen - right even year , left odd year - then she can't fly off in a swarm. She will plunge to her death off the launching pad and be eaten by ants while the swarm will gather in a nearby tree waiting after about half an hour they give up and come home ( you have got a spare queen in a nuc haven't you? ) that way you only loose a week of production and not half your hive and 8 weeks replacing the queen and bee stock.

Practice clipping wings on drones - just half a wing. Use hairdresser type scissors - long and thin with big rings for fat fingers don't grab the abdomen - it will injure her, hold her by the legs she is more robust than people think. Workers won't sting you if you have the queen so just pick her up off the frame. Mark her while you have her - use liquid paper white out pen the sort with the thin needle like applicator. Only Mark the thorax. - if you mark the head or abdomen she will look too different and could be killed by the workers. When working on the brood box find the queen and cage her so you don't crush her while moving frames.

For a cage nick one of you wife's, GFs hair rollers - stick a cork in each end push a nail right through one sticking out both side to both hold it in and stop it rolling - the other end put a screw in to use as a knob to push it in and pull it out. With queen in cage put it at the entrance while working on the hive (the workers will feed her through the holes)  then when finished hold the opened cage at the outer edge of the " landing strip" at the entrance and watch her actually walk into the hive - wait a few seconds to make sure she doesn't walk out again that way you know she is back in the hive.

Queen cells across the middle of the frame are supercedure cells and are all the same age - if you are getting a lot of them it is a sign the bees are detecting a drop in performance of the queen - time to consider replacing do it yourself so you control the process - if left to the bees you may end up with nothing or a swarm the first queen to hatch from a serpercedure cell will kill all the others.

Queen cells across the bottom of the frame are swarm cells - they are all different ages and the first queen emerging doesn't bother the others. if allowed to hatch half the hive will swarm with each hatching so you can loose all your hive in a week if you are not on top of it. Check the brood box every 2 weeks during heavy flows and make sure there is plenty of room. Lift any honey or pollen frames to the next super to give maximum room for brood.

So much for the queen - I'll post more stuff later

[Oak]

Really interesting David. Thanks for sharing.

[jayj200]

cool
thanks a heap

[Wombat2]

On SHB

The black plastic trap - between the frame type with the ladder clip on top (AJ?) loose the effectiveness of the clip that holds the top on - this can cause the body to fall down between the frames spilling the DE or Oil as the case may be and will kill bees in the process. To prevent this use the plastic coated wire cable twist ties that usually come on new appliances  twist one around each end with the ends pointing down  -  cover the trap with a piece of vinyl that projects about 50mm past each end of the trap and is exactly the width to the outside edges of the two adjacent frame bars - crease it to a inverted V and place over trap to create a tunnel for the beetles but keep the bees from glueing up the ladder with propolis.

PARAGRAPH DELETED BY AUTHOR


Around the lunch table discussion, one of the other students knows a PhD student looking into SHB and working on an hypotheses that the smell of slime from the SHB infestation is an attractant to other SHBs to that hive  - it has been observed numbers increase rapidly once the hive is slimed and it is thought it is the smell that brings them in. Working on this they are looking at making a lure trap similar to the fruit Fly traps that use the female sex pheromone to attract male fruit flys into a poison trap. Might try it myself if I can find a slimed hive (not one of mine I hope) I have a number of fruit fly traps so could use one with some poison bee candy with some slime as attractant - will have to reduce the size of the opening as it is 10mm diameter - couple of pins as bars should do the trick. Thinking I will place it at the other end of the property away from the hives that will test if it is working as a lure rather than chance.

[jayj200]

my old organtic gardening mags

told of grinding bugs mixing with water maybe some soap and spraying

will this work i don't know

jay
from over yonder not down under

[Wombat2]

WARNING

I feel I must add a warning to my information provided about DIY SHB poison trap.

Fipronil - the active ingredient is HIGHLY TOXIC TO LOTS OF INSECTS INCLUDING BEES.

Wear (surgical) gloves when handling the poison bait DO NOT HANDLE ANY HIVE ITEMS eg traps or frames while wearing the gloves used to handle the bait. Place the bait in the bottom of the trap without touching the outside of the trap - use tweezers or something thin enough to push it to the bottom making sure it is out of reach of any bees that may crawl over the trap. Once secured in the trap it is safe to use in the hive the same as commercially available traps containing fipronil - it is approved for this use.

Those who try this method do so at their own risk : if you don't feel confident don't do it.

[100 TD]

WARNING
AFAIK Home made concoctions of any pesticide in your hive is illegal if you are keeping bees for the sale of honey(food products). You also leave yourself open to the possibility of damages claims (own a house, well maybe you won't for long).
While frontline may have one of the same active ingredients in it, it is not approved for use in beehives. Why, it would also contain other ingredients and the delivery method of the chemical is not controlled so contamination of honey is a real possibility. If you want to eat your toast in the morning with a spray of Bagon on it, go for it, but don't give it to anyone else.

[yantabulla]

Thanks 100TD. 

I was biting my tongue. 

The use of that type of beetle control is illegal & irresponsible.

Little wonder bee's are in trouble.

Yanta                             

[Wombat2]

Yes I agree - I researched Fipronil after I posted from my course notes and was uneasy about its potency ( same stuff as Termador) and posted the warning.

I've deleted the information - also note my opening sentence at the beginning of the post 

[Lone]

I've never used an apithor trap.  If it was a choice between SHB killing the hive or apithor then I would...after using all other options.  I don't like the thought of poisons like that getting into honey.  I know they've done the studies.. but I guess I'd like to see more testing first.  I do use diatomacious earth but I'm guessing that is safer if ingested in minute amounts.

I'm enjoying reading about your course and thanks for the tips, wombat.  It's a good idea covering those little AJ traps.  We're forever cleaning propolis from them.

Lone

[Wombat2]

Nothing wrong with ingesting a bit of D.E. Lone. D.E.t AKA Kaolin is the basis of an antacid mixture I had to make every day of the school holidays for 8 years and every day of my pre-registration year in the family Pharmacy.
Know to everyone as Doc XXXs White Wash we kept two double strength 1 litre bottles on the shelf all the time. Mist.Kaolin Alk. A.P.F 55 - I still know the formula  ;)

[Lone]

Haha I can just go and get a spoonful of DE when I have reflux then!

On the other hand, this is the MSDS for Frontline Plus.  http://www.merial.com.au/dogs/products/Pages/dogs_frontline_plus.aspx

Lone

[Wombat2]

1.5 teaspoons of DE (kaolin) 1 tsp sodi bicarbonate couple drops peppermint essence water to 20 ml mix into a slurry and your pretty close ( missing the magnesium carbonate but still will work) ;)

[Wombat2]

Increase the size of the lid ventilation - for store bought lids with two holes just run a jig jaw between the top and bottoms of the holes and make a long slit.  Add metal (aluminium or brass) fly screen material to outside of hole. Mesh on outside is less likely to be glued over with propolis and metal does not get eaten out like fiberglass mesh.

The large hole each end gives better ventilation in our hot climate and you can see what the bees are up to as you have a clear view through the top of the hive. High numbers could mean overcrowding and need more space - very low numbers sick or swarmed - burr comb build up storage space running out. Also the lighter area detirs the SHB and they can't get away from the bees and are forced down into the frames where they can be hunted.

You can see the larger vent in this photo - slightly different version with centre support and goes wider to the sides.

And I noticed you can see if the lid is cleared after smoking.

[Wombat2]

Pictures of the portable crane demonstrated on the course are at http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,43965.0.html

[Anybrew2]

Hey Wombat2, I love that Crane!!!!!!I want it. Was it any good????
How much $$$$$

Cheers
Steve

I still love it.

[Wombat2]

He said he would charge about $500 to make one ( but he was speaking to a pretty woman when he said that ;) ) If you have a cheap source of steel and can weld it is pretty simple really. Cost a bit to get it to Dubbo from Brisy.

It was easy to use - would be better if you had a ratchet to lower as well. Hanging onto the handle to stop it dropping takes some control while guiding the box

[Wombat2]

I missed the lifting off of the super as someone got in the way - here is the replacing of a full super

http://youtu.be/LXSW3aeJ9u8

Edit: watching my video on Youtube this was in the side panel - now that has possibilities

http://youtu.be/zJZWxxet8eQ

[Anybrew2]

Thanks for that,your right I can weld a bit and it would be a good project. Hives are getting too heavy for me and my young fella to move around.

Cheers
Steve