Urvashi 2 Posted May 27, 2013 Dear Sir / Madame, My name is Urvashi Lallu; I am a student at Unitec in Auckland. I am in my third and last year of my Degree in Bachelor of Applied Sciences. I am conducting a research project for my third year thesis on behalf of Key Industries and Unitec. The research project is being conducted through a survey which looks at the perceptions of apiarists on the impact of ant presence in beehives and how ants affect hives. There are currently no studies in New Zealand that look at bee/ant interactions, and little is known about how apiarists perceive ants as a threat to their bee colonies. It's important to reach as many apiarists as possible in order to gather adequate data. Your participation would be most warmly appreciated. What is involved? With your permission, I will send out a short survey together with collection vials (if needed) along with a postage paid return envelope. . For this survey to go ahead I will need contact details of all apiarists who might be willing to participate, so I can send out the survey pack. Your participation in this study will help inform the New Zealand beekeeping community on how best to manage invasive ant species in our beehives. Please contact me via email: urvashi.lallu@gmail.com Or by phone: 027 2524278 My supervisor’s email address –Graham Jones (Lecturer and Programme Leader of the Natural Sciences Department at Unitec): gjones@unitec.ac.nz 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yesbut 5423 Posted May 27, 2013 Hhmmmm, I wonder if Argentine ants eat varroa ??? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janice 3984 Posted May 27, 2013 Wouldn't varroa treatment be hazardous to ants? We hardly have ants down here anyway and I have not seen them in hives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger 873 Posted May 27, 2013 Dear Sir / Madame, My name is Urvashi Lallu; I am a student at Unitec in Auckland. I am in my third and last year of my Degree in Bachelor of Applied Sciences. I am conducting a research project for my third year thesis on behalf of Key Industries and Unitec. The research project is being conducted through a survey which looks at the perceptions of apiarists on the impact of ant presence in beehives and how ants affect hives. There are currently no studies in New Zealand that look at bee/ant interactions, and little is known about how apiarists perceive ants as a threat to their bee colonies. It's important to reach as many apiarists as possible in order to gather adequate data. Your participation would be most warmly appreciated. What is involved? With your permission, I will send out a short survey together with collection vials (if needed) along with a postage paid return envelope. . For this survey to go ahead I will need contact details of all apiarists who might be willing to participate, so I can send out the survey pack. Your participation in this study will help inform the New Zealand beekeeping community on how best to manage invasive ant species in our beehives. Please contact me via email: urvashi.lallu@gmail.com Or by phone: 027 2524278 My supervisor’s email address –Graham Jones (Lecturer and Programme Leader of the Natural Sciences Department at Unitec): gjones@unitec.ac.nz Done 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger 873 Posted May 27, 2013 You got ants R ? Not especially but I do see them in the hive. Have found grass left on top of the hive mat discourages them. I am happy to help this guy with his project. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bron 2429 Posted May 28, 2013 Got them on most of our hive mats between the lid and the hive mat, don't see them in the hive thou unless they go in once the mat is removed. Lots of roaches too, really, really big ones, they come out the bottom in bits:rofl: 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vincent Channon 448 Posted May 28, 2013 My plants deal to what ants I have. I would like to see an ant get into my hive when I get one :geek:. If the beehive attracts ants and my plants eat them, I see a win win thing going on. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bron 2429 Posted May 28, 2013 Wonder if they will eat bees too:eek: Or the varroa:D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vincent Channon 448 Posted May 28, 2013 Wonder if they will eat bees too:eek: Or the varroa:D Not the ones that eat ants. But have some that have munched on wasps. Never actually come across a bee eaten though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philip 2 Posted May 28, 2013 We have ants in quite a few of our hives between the hive mat and lid, they seen to have only moved in in the past few years. They don't seem to do anything bad except they like to burrow through rotting boxes, that's also a help shows us which ones need burning or selling off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tony 2001 Posted May 28, 2013 we get heaps of ants they nest in the feeder and because we are on pallets and the hives sit side buy side snug they live happly in between, some areas are worse than others however, But personally i don't think they are that bad and dont seem to interfere to much with the bees, Can take some photos, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Urvashi 2 Posted May 28, 2013 We have ants in quite a few of our hives between the hive mat and lid, they seen to have only moved in in the past few years. They don't seem to do anything bad except they like to burrow through rotting boxes, that's also a help shows us which ones need burning or selling off. Hi Phillip, Would you like to participate in my survey. The survey is focusing on the perception of apiarists and how they perceive ants in the hive. I will be sending out the survey in the next couple of weeks. Your contribution will be a big help for my data collection Also the ants that are in your hive, I will need a sample so I can identify the species, I will then place each species on the map and see where they are most prevalent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Urvashi 2 Posted May 28, 2013 Hi all, thank you for your replies and discussions. Very interesting! Would you all like to participate in my survey? I was trying to reach as many people as I could. I have done this by calling the chairman's, presidents and secretary's listed on the national beekeepers association of New Zealand and getting them on board to invite people using my written invitation at their next beekeepers meeting as well as forwarding my email to as many beekeepers as possible. I will be needing names and addresses to send out the packs, you can send your names and addresses to my email address. urvashi.lallu@gmail.com. all information will be confidential and only used for this study. looking forward to your replies! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grant 3959 Posted May 28, 2013 Hi all, thank you for your replies and discussions. Very interesting! Would you all like to participate in my survey? I was trying to reach as many people as I could. I have done this by calling the chairman's, presidents and secretary's listed on the national beekeepers association of New Zealand and getting them on board to invite people using my written invitation at their next beekeepers meeting as well as forwarding my email to as many beekeepers as possible. I will be needing names and addresses to send out the packs, you can send your names and addresses to my email address. urvashi.lallu@gmail.com. all information will be confidential and only used for this study. looking forward to your replies! If you want to put up a copy of the survey as a PDF, you can do so here, so people will be able to fill it in and return it as and when. You can then get the survey archived, when you have enough respondents or your time limit expires. See Disease & Pests | NZ Beekeepers Forum 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
