We finally had a window of opportunity yesterday here with the weather. Although it was a bit too cold, it was sunny...and so I went into the bees to check on their situation. Well, two of the colonies were bundling out of their hives and they were building comb on the walls, on the top plank and on the undersides of frames.There was oodles of nectar, pollen and brood. There was also a huge amount of dar-brood. Dar--that's "drone", or a male bee. There was actually a little too much in my estimation. I take steps to help keep the dar cell number down. I do that for three reasons.: (1) I simply do not want space taken up (wasted) with pupating drones. I would rather that there were more worker bees. (2) Dar(drones) eat, take up space and do not work and in that sense they are takers, not givers. (3) Varroa mites prefer dar cells in which to complete their life cycle. Less dar cells-fewer optimal places for the mites to survive. So, to combat the dar population, and thus to help remove varroa mites, I break many drone cell caps so that the worksters will then remove the drones from the hives. The second thing that I do is to place a honey frame (~½ the size of a brood frame) right at the edge of the brood area and the queen lays worker eggs in cells built up from the foundation and on the bottom of this narrpw frame, then construct a comb of dar cells. Once these have been laid and are sealed, I cut the sealed dar cell comb off the frame, thus riding myself of a lot of filled drone cells with potentially many varroa mites inside. Now then, that brings me to the piccies this time. I have removed a couple of big slabs of the sealed dar brood and placed them out for the tits to feast upon. it comes out good because there are young here and such a good protein source will be good for them, as it is generally still so cool that there are not many small worms, caterpillars or beetles for them to feed their young on. So then...Ding, Ding-- Service up! The Great tit has partially removed a larva. It is just out: Voilá! Now off to the nest box. Right then--probably way more info that you really needed, but hopefully the background gives a bit more understanding of what is going on in this foto series...and why.
I think you are very astute to realise that the Dar cell numbers should be kept to a minimum. You certainly seem to have found the perfect solution to helping your hives to be as healthy as possible. Those male cells will also keep the bird life well fed at the start of nesting season when, as you say, there isn't an abundance of other insect life around. I sincerely hope that the Varroa mites will not have a chance to infect your honey bees. Many thanks for the detailed information which, once again, I will be saving for future reference.
Sjoerd, Have you any of the frames that are specifically for starting drone brood just for varroa treatment? You pull the frame as soon as it is capped and put it in the freezer to kill the drone and the varroa. The varroa prefer the drone brood over the worker brood. Then you pop it right back in the hive the next day and let the workers clean it out for the next cycle. Great photos, too.
Ok - I've had my lesson for the day! Lots of good info in your post S. Question, if there were mites in there (and here's hoping there were not), they could not harm or pass through the birds could they?
If you have a persistent problem with varroa mites, powdered sugar will take care of those that are on your bees. Put a screen over the frames or brood chambers or wherever you have the mites, squeegee powdered sugar through the screen, which will cover the bees. The sugar on the bees prevents the mites from attaching themselves and the mites fall off and die. We are very fortunate in that we don't have varroa mites here, but my beekeeping husband has read up on almost everything that could go wrong, so when I asked him for an organic solution to the problem, he had an answer. Your solution is fine, but just in case, keep some powdered sugar on hand!
Hi Sjoerd, I am impressed by you folks that keep bees. Thank goodness for you all. It takes a lot of knowledge and dedication. That bird will need a good nap after that feast! Great pics!
Glad that you liked the posting EILEEN--I really do hope that you will be able to get some bees this year. I just know that you will enjoy looking after them. CFAROLYN--I know the frames of which you are speaking. I do not have any of those. I just place a honey frame at the edge of the brood nest and wait for the worksters to build the comb on the underside of it, and when it has been sealed with drone larvae inside...I cut it off and let them do it again. This technique that I use is precisely to keep the varroa numbers down. I was aware that the varroa's had a preference for the drone cells because they stay safely sealed-in the longest. Thanks for commenting on the thread, miss. Thanks so much, KK. Hee hee hee, KM--As far as I know, the tits have not had the comb meals before...but they seemed to instinctively know to remove the cell cover and pull out the meal. Thanks DONNA. I am really happy that you like the bee posts, NETTY--It is indeed a bit of work and an enormous amount to learn. But what a pleasure it all is. Glad that you liked this one, CAYUGA. 4-G-- No, they would not harm the birds. I sometimes freeze slabs when I haver a lot to offer the birds at a later date. The little tits just swallow them right down in one gulp, bless 'em. Hey MG-- I have read about that method and see some YouTube vids of folks doing that. I may try that one of these days if those mites persist. The knowledgeable experts here tell us that all hives have varroa infestation to some extent or the other. If that is true or not, i don't know, but I keep a vigil and look at the bees carefully when I do my checks and I place a plate under the hive from time to time with vaseline on it and count the mites. I sometimes use a product called "Hive-Clean"; however, luckily I never have too many mites fall below. I treat the colonies twice a year at the appointed times here in my area. I like to do it at the same time as the beekeepers up the way. This lessens the possibility of re-infection somewhat. Thanks so much for thinking-along with me. I appreciate your and Carolyn's advice and information so much. KAT-- Hiya. I'll bet that birdie will sleep well with that full tum. I have seen one of the tits pull a larva out of a cell, and then hop up in the wigelia nearby and give it to its mate. I like to think it is the male being chivalrous.
TONI--Thanks, I'm glad that you found it interesting. I could watch those birdies for hours...Hmmmmm....That comment was in line with another thread, wasn't it? BUNKIE--Thank you. I liked your vid. What a "happy" vid that was.
