Aquila 612 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Gidday team. I have recently moved from Mount Somers to Leeston. Took my 2x3/4 hive with me. Did all my checks before we moved and treated for Varroa. They had plenty of food, room and had a feeder in. Checked them today and have a handful of bees and a queen left. Strange thing is there's not many bodies in the bottom of the hive. What I'm after and I know it may not be worth it is some frames of bees to boost my hive and keep my queen going. Or do I let it die out and start again in spring? Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifruiter 605 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Gidday team. I have recently moved from Mount Somers to Leeston. Took my 2x3/4 hive with me. Did all my checks before we moved and treated for Varroa. They had plenty of food, room and had a feeder in. Checked them today and have a handful of bees and a queen left. Strange thing is there's not many bodies in the bottom of the hive. What I'm after and I know it may not be worth it is some frames of bees to boost my hive and keep my queen going. Or do I let it die out and start again in spring? I would say let it die and restart in spring. Take a sample of bees and freeze them-Something doesnt sound right. How long ago did you last check them, what did you treat them with and did it work? (varroa I mean...) Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Stockley 3,417 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Over what time frame has this demise happened? Scary stuff doesn't bear thinking about. Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifruiter 605 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Over what time frame has this demise happened? Scary stuff doesn't bear thinking about. I have had a few hives over the last few years do this... If I could have gone back in time, I am fairly sure sugar shake tests would have told a story of a failed varroa treatment for whatever reason... Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Stockley 3,417 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 I have had a few hives over the last few years do this... If I could have gone back in time, I am fairly sure sugar shake tests would have told a story of a failed varroa treatment for whatever reason... Agreed but aren't these symptoms similar to corrorapa and, more generally, CCD? Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifruiter 605 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Agreed but aren't these symptoms similar to corrorapa and, more generally, CCD? Well yes but, a fairly significant part of the symptoms for CCD is 'bees gone'. If it happened over two weeks and sugar shake said no varroa press the panic button, bug problems are afoot. If over 6 weeks and there was no tracking of varroa, varroa is very definitely a strong possibility. The problem with not checking for varroa at this time of year, when things turn to crap there is little more you can do than shrug your shoulders and cross your fingers next year. Link to post Share on other sites
Aquila 612 Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Checked them the day after I moved them, all good busy bees, 2 weeks later was today. Treated with oxalic vapour Link to post Share on other sites
yesbut 6,232 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Forget about them. Repopulate at swarm time. Link to post Share on other sites
Pbee 1,256 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 I'd go with @Kiwifruiter on this. Most certainly treatment 'too late'. Can you post some pictures, please? You may want to poke through the unhatched/capped brood. If there are mites you have assurance what went wrong. Who checked your colonies for AFB before you moved them? From personal experience, I have tried all the 'organic' treatments and have come back to strips. In saying that, I have lost colonies to Varroa which were treated with strips at the right time and the right duration. Most likely your handful of bees won't survive, sadly! If you have, stick them in a well insulated Nuc box with one strip of Apistan or Bayvarol but chances are... Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Sharpe 140 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Give me a call in spring. I'll be splitting hives. My bees out leeston way are going much better than my home hives 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Aquila 612 Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Cheers Peter Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,630 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 99% likelihood your bees went down to varroa and in that case adding more brood won't save them unless the varroa is also dealt with. Also you won't get a lot of spare brood around Leeston atm. Reason for blaming varroa is my own experience with OAV. It has to be done just right or the mites come back. You didn't mention anything about your treatment timetable and program. What you doing in Leeston out of interest? I lived there myself for 2 years. Main thing I remember is hot sunny summer days, but freezing in the winter! Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifruiter 605 Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Hence the problem with OAV as a stand alone treatment... Very little room for error. If it is a follow up to a bayverol, it is a lot better because the bayverol will have still knocked down a significant number of varroa-just not enough for the hive to survive the winter. Link to post Share on other sites
beefree 291 Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I may be able to help if you want a few frames of bees, I have a hive that's queenless. Link to post Share on other sites
Aquila 612 Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 Beefree, I'll have a look tomorrow and see whats left. Alastair, I'm supporting my girlfriend who is herd manager on a dairy farm. Finally got paid out for the house with the exwife, Paid the bills so playing with toys and helping out when needed. Treatment was 5 times over 4 weeks 2 grams on a 2 minute burn then leaving the hive sealed up for 10 minutes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,630 Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Hmm well that should have worked! What are your thoughts on the cause? Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwifruiter 605 Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 My guess would be re invasion? Link to post Share on other sites
Michelle L. 55 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi Beefree, I'm new to this site (as of today) so don't know how to message you on a separate discussion...so sorry about that. I was wanting to ask you how you got on with your bee breeding/going into business? I'm really interested in gaining more experience in regard to beekeeping and queen raising. I'm hoping to get a couple of hives this spring as I don't own any at present nor have I ever owned any! Would you be interested in an extra pair of hands at any time? Cheers, Michelle. @beefree sorry should have done this above...I'm learning! Link to post Share on other sites
beefree 291 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hey welcome to the forum @Michelle L\., good to see you have interest in the queen raising side of things. I'm expanding my numbers and preparing for the madness of producing early spring nucs, still so much for me to learn, I ain't had that much experience with the queen side of things yet, it's early days for me, it's all about practicing each step of the process until you get it right. You are more than welcome to tag along sometime in the spring, I'm being a bit different and going the Jenter kit route, but the principle is similar as to grafting. I can PM you since you do not have enough posts to message me. Link to post Share on other sites
Michelle L. 55 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hey welcome to the forum @Michelle L\., good to see you have interest in the queen raising side of things. I'm expanding my numbers and preparing for the madness of producing early spring nucs, still so much for me to learn, I ain't had that much experience with the queen side of things yet, it's early days for me, it's all about practicing each step of the process until you get it right. You are more than welcome to tag along sometime in the spring, I'm being a bit different and going the Jenter kit route, but the principle is similar as to grafting. I can PM you since you do not have enough posts to message me. Thanks, yeah I would love to tag along, lease do pm me. i have a couple of properties with almonds on that I can put hives on, about 60 acfres in all. Maybe you could put some hives on there in spring? i was just going to put two haha! I'm gonna have to read up Jenter kit and grafting...so much to learn! Oh gosh, it just repeated that 3 times..,I'm already breaking the rules...sorry admin! Hazelnuts not almonds...sorry. Link to post Share on other sites
Janice 3,991 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 DO NOT search this site for ''hazels''. You have been warned. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts