Stoney 1,544 Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 2 hours ago, Philbee said: All I can say is that its been my only treatment for to Autumns. Ive had loses here and there but not a single Varroa related one. One thing Ive realised is that Ive put a lot of effort into supplying others with good Queens and have neglected my own. Clearing out the varroa is a bit like wiping the steam off the bathroom mirror... its not til it’s wiped off you get a clear picture of what’s actually staring back.. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaihoka 2,936 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Stoney said: Clearing out the varroa is a bit like wiping the steam off the bathroom mirror... its not til it’s wiped off you get a clear picture of what’s actually staring back.. You are obviously still young . I try and leave the bathroom before the steam has cleared . 15 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 7 hours ago, Stoney said: Clearing out the varroa is a bit like wiping the steam off the bathroom mirror... its not til it’s wiped off you get a clear picture of what’s actually staring back.. Exactly and it can be an eye opener IMO you start to learn a lot bout bees once the Varroa are gone Ive gone from being a full time Varroa battler to a student of Bees, much more aware of whats happening in a hive now. Heres a curly one Today I found a very poor hive, about 3 frames of bees with an over wintered marked Queen. She had started to lay about 5 eggs in each cell and I checked for another young Queen and couldn't find one or a super cell etc Is this seen often. Another bit of humor for the day I opened a hive and decided to kill the Queen Moments after killing her I spotted the marked old queen. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post Philbee 4,672 Posted November 2, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, frazzledfozzle said: I think a lot of queen rearers have the same problem. How long have your hives been synthetic free ? 4 years As a commercial I have never used Synthetics Edited November 2, 2018 by Philbee 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CraBee 1,744 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 24 minutes ago, Philbee said: Exactly and it can be an eye opener IMO you start to learn a lot bout bees once the Varroa are gone Ive gone from being a full time Varroa battler to a student of Bees, much more aware of whats happening in a hive now. Heres a curly one Today I found a very poor hive, about 3 frames of bees with an over wintered marked Queen. She had started to lay about 5 eggs in each cell and I checked for another young Queen and couldn't find one or a super cell etc Is this seen often. Another bit of humor for the day I opened a hive and decided to kill the Queen Moments after killing her I spotted the marked old queen. I don't understand why sometimes the bees have not started on a new Queen when the existing one is clearly bad, sometimes really bad... I think I could write a book on the stupid / bizarre / unfathomable things I've come across while keeping bees. Today I opened a mating nuc and found a newly mated Queen in it and a Virgin Queen. I caged the mated Queen and left the Virgin. Go figure though. Back on Wednesday I cracked open a hive on my favourite site and was admiring some lovely fresh brood on a number of frames while trying to find the Queen. I did find her and grabbed her and pushed her in the hive entrance, I'd put the excluder on. She fell down and disappeared under the damn pallet and so I lay on all sides of the pallet trying to spot her under there in all the debris - most of it fluff from gib staples! Gave up in the end, got back today and the hive was Queenless. Stupid beekeeper. Or one from last year again in a mating nuc and there was horrible drone brood in there so I thought she must be a drone layer and I saw the Queen and so squashed her, right at the same time I saw mating sign from the rear region, and realised that the drone brood was actually from the previous queen. Stupid beekeeeper. 3 5 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 11 minutes ago, CraBee said: She fell down and disappeared under the damn pallet I would have dumped a cup of young bees down there with her Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M4tt 4,940 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, CraBee said: I don't understand why sometimes the bees have not started on a new Queen when the existing one is clearly bad, sometimes really bad... I think I could write a book on the stupid / bizarre / unfathomable things I've come across while keeping bees. Today I opened a mating nuc and found a newly mated Queen in it and a Virgin Queen. I caged the mated Queen and left the Virgin. Go figure though. Back on Wednesday I cracked open a hive on my favourite site and was admiring some lovely fresh brood on a number of frames while trying to find the Queen. I did find her and grabbed her and pushed her in the hive entrance, I'd put the excluder on. She fell down and disappeared under the damn pallet and so I lay on all sides of the pallet trying to spot her under there in all the debris - most of it fluff from gib staples! Gave up in the end, got back today and the hive was Queenless. Stupid beekeeper. Or one from last year again in a mating nuc and there was horrible drone brood in there so I thought she must be a drone layer and I saw the Queen and so squashed her, right at the same time I saw mating sign from the rear region, and realised that the drone brood was actually from the previous queen. Stupid beekeeeper. I had a strange one the other day . A hive that had bad winter varroa , and the queen was limping along , laying generally poorly , but had recovered from varroa , but I suspect , not the residual viruses . She disappeared , the hive was queenless , so I gave them a frame of eggs . A week later they had made three large queen cells , then removed the larvae leaving themselves queenless again . Very weird ... They got merged with a neighbour Edited November 2, 2018 by M4tt 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post CraBee 1,744 Posted November 2, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 2, 2018 1 hour ago, M4tt said: I had a strange one the other day . A hive that had bad winter varroa , and the queen was limping along , laying generally poorly , but had recovered from varroa , but I suspect , not the residual viruses . She disappeared , the hive was queenless , so I gave them a frame of eggs . A week later they had made three large queen cells , then removed the larvae leaving themselves queenless again . Very weird ... They got merged with a neighbour I'm not sure what other people's experiences are, but I find those hives that get hit really hard by varroa - eg sugar shake 20+, mites on bees, bit of DWV etc that the Queen never really seems to recover - best to squash her and try a new one. Anyone else think like this? 1 2 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M4tt 4,940 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 1 minute ago, CraBee said: I'm not sure what other people's experiences are, but I find those hives that get hit really hard by varroa - eg sugar shake 20+, mites on bees, bit of DWV etc that the Queen never really seems to recover - best to squash her and try a new one. Anyone else think like this? Yep I agree . This one was mid forties in July. I kept her going to see what would happen . The staples nailed the varroa but the hive kept producing occasional DWV bees indicating a larger underlying problem 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post olbe 236 Posted November 2, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 2, 2018 Having been involved in the MPI pathogen project and seeing the results from virus tests I would say that deformed wing virus is endemic to every hive in NZ whether it shows any symptons or not . 4 1 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 23 hours ago, olbe said: Having been involved in the MPI pathogen project and seeing the results from virus tests I would say that deformed wing virus is endemic to every hive in NZ whether it shows any symptons or not . It would be beneficial to see work done on tracking this virus in Varroa free hives from year to year as well as their offspring hives. Including Hiveware and wax 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaihoka 2,936 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 On 2/11/2018 at 11:02 PM, olbe said: Having been involved in the MPI pathogen project and seeing the results from virus tests I would say that deformed wing virus is endemic to every hive in NZ whether it shows any symptons or not . If there are no symptons how does it affect the bees ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
olbe 236 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Perhaps I should have said ," no visible symptons" however the hive will not build because the bees have a shortened lifespan , and when you get nosema ceranae as well they become lethargic and listless . they can sit for 3/4 months with 4 frames of bees and then finally crash. you beeks on the mainland are lucky in that nosema C does not appear to be down there yet , I am sure when it arrives you will wonder what is going on with your bees until the realisation sets in. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john berry 5,518 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I had a beautiful autumn queen in the spring which I was going to send to a queen breeder. When I went to cage her she was superseding so I left her. The next time I checked the hive appeared queenless. Following time there was a new Queen just starting to lay nicely but when I checked it with a group of hobbyists it was a drone layer with some of the sickest, chalk brood, half-moon disease plus multiple eggs both on the bottom and up the cell walls. She was a very flighty young Queen and while I wanted to show her to the hobbyists I decided it was better to dispatch her before she flew off. 3 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post Oma 451 Posted November 7, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2018 On 31/10/2018 at 6:29 PM, Philbee said: A word from the wise Rain would give a new meaning to the phrase "Scorched Earth" There is enough ingredient in those Staples to ensure that nothing grows in that garden for at least 3 years or even longer In fact OA/GL makes Round up look like fertilizer There’s no end of uses for OAand GL when you have some leftover at the end of soaking strips. A paint brush and a quick jaunt round the garden. Look out Monsanto! 7 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 6 hours ago, Oma said: There’s no end of uses for OAand GL when you have some leftover at the end of soaking strips. A paint brush and a quick jaunt round the garden. Look out Monsanto! All good if you just use a little larger spillages will completely destroy the soil structure 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oma 451 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, Philbee said: All good if you just use a little larger spillages will completely destroy the soil structure Used just what would hold onto a small paint brush, will observe what happens to those spots in the weeks to come. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamo 512 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 After reading Randy Oliver's report and my own observations I decided to up the ox ratio to 40% in my mix. The first lot that I socked then drained while the solution was warm turned out real nice but the next batch that I soaked and drained a few days later have come out covered in crystals. Is it ok to repeatedly reheat the solution each time? I was hoping to be able to cook up a big brew of solution and simply dunk betchs of strips as I needed them but might not be able to with 40% solution. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamo 512 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 8 hours ago, Jamo said: Those are mighty fine looking Staples Jamo, almost good enough to wear. What you are seeing is typical with 40% cold soaked. IMO the solution is best soaked warm and Randy also says this. I reheat my solution and it is surprisingly easy to do so. Again in my opinion on the initial heating temps, its preferable to use a max temp of around 70 deg C This should be considered precautionary. So to conclude, reheat and re soak those Staples at 70 ish deg C and all will be good. 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jamo 512 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 6 hours ago, Philbee said: Those are mighty fine looking Staples Jamo, almost good enough to wear. I,d feel somewhat exposed wearing a staple and definitely wouldn't want that acid getting anywhere it wasn't supposed to. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dennis Crowley 1,321 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Jamo said: I,d feel somewhat exposed wearing a staple and definitely wouldn't want that acid getting anywhere it wasn't supposed to. Like this Jamo 1 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Dennis Crowley said: Like this Jamo Now there's an idea One of my niece is a clothes designer and Staples could be wearable art Edited November 8, 2018 by Philbee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dennis Crowley 1,321 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, Philbee said: Now there's an idea One of my niece is a clothes designer and Staples could be wearable art yes and she would be better placed to say where the single or double stitched staples should fit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Philbee 4,672 Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Dennis Crowley said: yes and she would be better placed to say where the single or double stitched staples should fit. Id recommend the Narrow As a side note Dennis Are you going to walk us through the voting procedure to come? Edited November 8, 2018 by Philbee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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