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Author Topic: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke  (Read 3437 times)

Offline hollie

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Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« on: October 10, 2015, 12:05:24 am »
DPAW is burning off here in the SW of WA, and I have a lot of smoke blowing in from burns a good way away. Do you think the smoke in the air would have any influence on bees inclination to swarm?
Cheers
Hollie
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2015, 08:13:48 am »
No but if it is heavy enough they will be filling up with honey and beeing ready to move if the fire got too close. Same as they do every time you smoke them.
It will slow down honey production. If it stays smokey long enough, they will probably want to start building wax when it clears.
When bees hold honey in their stomach like they do when they swarm, they produce lots of wax. So much so that if they are not building, they will have balls of wax on their abdomen.
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2015, 09:07:54 pm »
As long as they aren't having trouble breathing they will be fine.  I've never seen any difference in the number bees with their heads in cells with or without smoke. 
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Offline hollie

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Re: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2015, 03:29:38 am »
Thanks so much Guys - I'll be watching them carefully. It's not too heavy currently so I don't think they'll have trouble breathing. As there are 2 that were late nucs (end March) they are still building foundation so I hope things don't slow too much. My flow begins in November with the Jarrah and things are early this year.
Cheers
Hollie.
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Offline OldMech

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Re: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2015, 12:52:03 am »

   I have outyards that get burned off every spring. I go burn around those hives before the main burn is started so that the fire close to the hives is limited. I have not had problems with those hives swarming, at least no more problem than any other hive. As Sawdstmakr stated, they DO make wax when the two or three days of burning is done, it is an excellent time to drop in some frames to have drawn. It gives them something to do with all that wax, and you benefit from the extra drawn frames.
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Offline hollie

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Re: Preventative Burning Off and related Smoke
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2015, 07:23:00 am »
Thanks OldMech, appreciate the reply. Things have settled here now, but next time I'll be ready with fresh foundation frames. As it is, they have had plenty of new frames to work on, as both being new nucs, I have new frames for them too.
Cheers
Hollie
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