Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: hjon71 on June 30, 2013, 10:10:34 am
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Earlier this year I noticed some shb running around in my hive. Checked again a month later, ants were beginning to build a colony on top of my inner cover. I cleaned it up the best I could and did my inspection, no shb.... Coincidence???
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Not a coincidence the shb are not in the cover with the ants. Coincidence they are not in the hive---- yes.
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I get occasional ants on top of the hive. I've never seen them inside or on the inner cover.
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I have several ant colonies around my hives that eat the dead bees the hives toss out. I get ants on the hive, but rarely more than a half dozen at a time. What I get inside the hives are scores of earwigs.
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I do not think ants will deter them except if they catch them in larva stage maybe in numbers, when they go out to bury themselves in the soil to continue their cycle. this is past the eating food stage though and ruining your hive by laying eggs in it. That is the problem also with other control methods, like using nematodes, or mutualistic bacteria (for instance those mesquito donuts, if blended into water and sprayed on the ground will kill them, as well as many other pests...they are made of a live mutualistic bacteria that gets inside and eats the inside of them.)
I am not sure if everyone started to do this it would daunt the general population of the shb or not, though. smb's are not a major problem for me I use simple control methods, and they are kept in check so far anyways.
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Update-
Back in the hive the other day and had very few ants after cleaning the inner cover the last 2 visits. But when I was doing my inspection I did see a few shb again.....kinda makes me wonder. Oh well, I'm new and only have the 1 hive. What do I know?
Coincidences intrigue me lol.