The Treatment-Free Beekeepers' Forum

Nordak

I've tried keeping a logbook in the past, but failed miserably at it. Seems I'd tell myself to remember to write everything down as I went into the house after inspections, but I'd get distracted by other things or never get around to it. I saw on a different forum, someone was using voice recording...

Nordak

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy your stay.

Nordak

I don't know how you feel about blackberries, or whether they can be grown in your zone, but I have native blackberry brambles threatening to take over my yard. I could send you more than you could handle in exchange for currant cuttings. Bees love the blossoms, and the berries on these are nice and...

Nordak

If we made honey the new gold standard, I'd still be broke.

I like barter, though. My neighbors and I have an unspoken agreement in that regard. They supply me free range eggs and I give them honey when I have it. It's a good deal.

Nordak

There is a lot of truth to what Sibylle says in regard to traits commercial beekeepers find desirable vs. survivor traits. I am optimistic that their is perhaps a shifting tone in regard to how to handle the mite problem sans treatment, but most commercial interests appear to be fine with the treatm...

Nordak

Why the fear of swarms? I don't understand the irrational thinking. Varroa is already well established in Germany. What are they trying to protect? Makes no sense. Unless the authorities are actively patroling all of Germany for feral bees, I'm thinking they probably miss a colony or swarm here and ...

Nordak

Regarding Sibylle's case, I see it like this: if everyone thinks ferals don't exist, who's looking for them?

Nordak

moebees wrote:Its honeybee line dancing!

Lol. I guess bees need something to do to occupy their time.

Nordak

Don't ask me why they do it. That's still a mystery.

https://youtu.be/lbwumXVTOz8

Nordak

A good sign here is the bees start washboarding and you'll notice a significant drop off on numbers of bees bringing in pollen. If they are still busy and you still see them bringing in quite a bit of pollen, you probably still have some nectar around.

Nordak

Nice, Greg!

Nordak

Hey Sibylle, yes, all bees self-groom. You are correct. From my observations, bees often groom other bees as well. I don't think this is particularly a special trait. Without the biting trait, I'm not so certain grooming alone would help tremendously with varroa. As Michael pointed out, mites easily...

Nordak

The queen is laying heavy in the second brood box, but the bottom box has very little worker brood. Mostly drones and honey. Let me guess - you have a top entrance only (in the second, upper box)? If this theory is correct, this is pretty typical with top-only entrances (see MB's writings, for exam...

Nordak

What you could try is reversing your brood boxes and move honey into the super like you said. If the bottom is mainly capped drone and honey, I'd move the drone brood into the top box/super. Once those drone hatch, the bees should fill them with nectar if any kind of nectar is available. Worst case ...

Nordak

What you are most likely seeing is the flow tapering. You're in SW Missouri, so probably close enough to my general region to experience dearth. The fact the bees aren't wanting to draw new wax and instead store it in the brood nest are signs here the flow is starting to diminish. I'm not sure what ...

Nordak

I just wanted to say anyone can do this. I bought a $12 pocket microscope with 60x-120x power off Amazon and use my camera phone to take the pictures by holding the camera lens up to the scope lens. From my experience, it's a trait worth looking for and propagating if possible.

Nordak

Wow! Summer dearth already? I think we should have a good flow until mild-July or end-July here (depending on weather). Basswood is just about to start. Clovers already started and should carry on through most of the summer. Yep, our flow is gone. We'll have a trickle here and there, but for the mo...

Nordak

Thanks Sibylle. I appreciate the interest. I emailed my pictures to the Mountain State Queens association which is a collaborative effort based in WV that focuses on mite biting traits for a second opinion. Jeff Berta, who is a collaborator of their efforts and queen breeder, confirmed that all the ...

Nordak

Looks great, Dusty. I'm jealous of both your weather and that nicely drawn white wax. We're starting our dearth here. Bees are shutting down until Fall.

Nordak

Thanks Greg. Seems like a cheap and easy solution. Great pics.

Nordak

6/10/17

No mites. Time to move to a different hive perhaps.

Nordak

Good job, Greg.

One of the coolest things I've ever seen in my bee yard, and I caught it on film! Keep an eye on the last bee.

https://youtu.be/0rASrblfZCA

Maybe that's why small hive beetles aren't much of an issue.

Nordak

Way to go, Leroy!

Nordak

I'm going to start keeping this as a journal style entry. It's a lot easier for me to document everything here as well as updating the community on where I'm at with this if anyone is still watching. If not, then you'll just have to put up with me. :lol: 6/8/17 Two mites on the board in a 3 hour per...

Nordak

I've caught 2 swarms at my 5 trap locations. One small, about 1lb, that never came up with a laying queen and an appx 3lb+ swarm with a queen. Getting a fair amount of scouting action at that location again too. The trap is right next to a 50 acre wooded area so they could possibly be feral. Fun st...

Nordak

Sounds great, Marcel. Thanks.

Nordak

Awesome Greg! Very cool.

Nordak

So I set out my board from 8 AM-12 PM today. Oddly enough, I got 3 more samples, and yet again, one was crawling and active. Here are pics of the other two. http://www.beesource.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33681&d=1496800710 This mite was obviously dessicated. It fell from the hive th...

Nordak

Marcel,

Thanks for posting the pics. Your shelter looks amazing. Nice looking bees as well.

Nordak

Lucky beekeepers. They are getting quality bees. Great job! I felt a similar satisfaction on the packages and queens I've sold/given away this year. Hoping to do more over the years to come, as well as distinguishing some of the traits that appear to be working in their favor in terms of survival. I...

Nordak

I agree with Dusty, though if you were to split, having mated queens ready to go for the queenless parts of your splits would be better than letting them make queens given it's your first year and the bees are in build up phase. If you can find local, TF mite resistant queens that would be better th...

Nordak

I've had my suspicions this might be a behavior my bees exhibit for a while. They don't do a ton of brood uncapping, some, but not like what I've heard from with alot of VSH colonies. The mite population seems to diminish greatly during our summer dearth. I was wondering what they were doing with th...

Nordak

Thanks, Leroy. I need more samples, but yeah, kinda exciting. I'll update with more pics and info as I go.

Nordak

Congratulations, lharder! That's quite an accomplishment.

Nordak

Will do. Thanks Moe.

A better picture of the mite with missing appendages. I wasn't happy with the quality of the above picture. Definitive mite damage and a clearer picture of what I was seeing.

Nordak

I've been curious about the potential for mite biting traits in my bees, so I bought a cheap scope and set up a section of fanfold insulation under one of the SBB I still have to see what I found. I set it up under one of my more populous hives that has been queenless for close to a month by now, so...

Nordak

Is there a good place on this forum for general updates (i.e. not specfic to a certain topic)?

Mark,

I started this thread for that very purpose. Feel free to contribute any time.
http://forum.tfbees.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=689

Nordak

Let me check. I should have some soon, within the next couple of weeks. If your deep is over 80% drawn and full of bees, they should easily be able to defend the available space.

Nordak

Hey Kevin, As far as cleaning up, sounds like you did the right thing. As afar as why it happened, what's your population like in relation to available comb? If there are too many combs in relation to population, sometimes SHB can get a foothold. Sounds like you might need to consolidate your hive s...

Nordak

Welcome to the forum, Mark. Looking forward to following your progress.

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