Honey Bee Suite » predators

Update on ants

Rusty — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:40:51 +0000

The post titled “Bad-ant ant advice and the ascension of bees” coaxed readers out of the woodwork. Some agreed with me that the ants were not the problem, some thought they were definitely the problem, and others thought there wasn’t enough information. I have to say that I learned a lot from the discussion. As with all beekeeping issues, the ant problem seems to hinge on the local environment: some places have troublesome ants and some don’t.

The reader who posed the original question has shared more information. It turns out I was right about new wood and no starters. He says, “I built a Warré hive . . . of new wood without foundation nor starter strips, just bare top bars.” He goes on to defend his decision to go with Warré, but I don’t consider that a problem. The shape and design of Warré hives is just fine and I have stolen a lot of good ideas from Warré beekeepers.

However, he goes on to describe the ants, “The ants are tiny and black, and I assume they are Argentine ants (I live in California).” Based on reader comments, it seems that California is one of the places where ants can definitely be a problem and Argentine ants can cause bees to flee.

The good news is we haven’t lost the beekeeper. He says, “I am okay with waiting until next year to try again.” He doesn’t want to buy a nuc because it won’t fit in his Warré, which is a good point. He adds, “After reading your posting (and reader comments) I accept that even without ants, my bees may still have left. But I will try and figure out a way of keeping ants out of my next hive.”

So for next year, I recommend the following:

Use starter strips or a bead of wax on the top bars (same as in a top-bar hive)

Keep the queen caged until the bees begin to build comb

In addition, you could place a pheromone lure inside the hive for a few days to give it a good homey smell before dumping the package

Use one or more of the reader-suggested ways to control Argentine ants

That’s where we stand at the moment. Besides being a bit wiser about ants, I’m ecstatic about having a new word in my bee vocabulary. But the thought of having to wait a whole year to hear how it all works out is nearly unbearable.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite

A morning snack of cedar planks

Rusty — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:18:03 +0000

Yellowjacket pheromone lure vs cedar shed: the shed wins

I was out in the woodshed this morning splitting logs when I heard the faintest scritch, scritch sound coming from the walls. The woodshed has three sides, all made from cedar, and when I put my ear to the wall it sounded as if the noise was inside the boards. Curious, I set aside the splitting maul and went in search of the scritch, scritch.

What I found surprised me at first. The outside wall was inhabited by half a dozen yellowjackets that seemed to be licking the boards. They weren’t queens, but probably the first progeny of a new queen. At first I was confused until I remembered that yellowjackets chew wood into a pulpy material and use it to build their nest. The cedar—being unfinished—was a perfect material to chew into a paste. The sound was made by their mandibles ripping the wood fibers.

I decided to kill them—after all, either I kill them or they kill my bees. It took all of about 90 seconds to find my butterfly net but by then they were gone. Annoyed that I lost them, I went on a hunt. By circling the house a few times, I was able to net two queens under the eaves within about five minutes. At least I assume they were queens because it is early in the season and they were monster yellowjackets—about twice the size of the workers I had just seen.

This was a good catch as it may have saved me from having to deal with two voracious hives by fall. This is just a reminder to watch out for those ladies in yellow. What looks like just two or three annoying wasps today may be two or three thousand even more annoying wasps later in the year.

By the way, did I mention there is a fresh (as of yesterday) yellowjacket pheromone lure hanging three feet away from the shed? Believe me, they were totally unimpressed.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite

It’s time to think about wasps

Rusty — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:07:49 +0000

We beekeepers tend to think of yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets as fall predators. Since only the queens live through the winter, few of these wasps are seen in the early spring. Still, the process has begun. All by herself the queen begins to lay eggs and establish a brood nest. As the months pass by, the number of offspring multiplies quickly until the air is thick with dangly-legged carnivores. By fall they are attacking your weaker hives, eating adult bees, ravaging the brood, and consuming honey stores.

Wasps are aggressive and hard to control once they learn there’s a local restaurant with bee sushi on the menu. One of the best ways to reign in these creatures is to kill the queens in the spring as soon as you see them. There won’t be many—just one here, one there—but by killing the queens now you can avoid a lot of trouble later.

You can use pheromone traps if you like, but I find a butterfly net quick and easy. The queens are large, easy to see, and don’t fly all that fast. Just scoop them up and give them a squish. I know . . . it sounds cruel. But if you want to minimize cruel, get them before they dismember your bees.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite

"Hey, mom, what's for dinner?" Flickr photo by Ineta McParland.

Monday morning myth: freezing won’t kill wax moths

Rusty — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:01:11 +0000

Contrary to popular hearsay, freezing will kill all life stages of both the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) and the lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella).

To kill the moths, you must monitor both time and temperature. For example, the Mid-Altantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC) publishes the following guidelines to kill both species of wax moth:

20 degrees F for 4.5 hours or

5 degrees F for 2 hours.

Similarly, the Department of Primary Industries in Victoria, Australia advises

-6.7 degrees C for 4.5 hours or

-12.2 degrees C [10 degrees F] for 3 hours or

-15 degrees C for 2 hours

These numbers convert exactly. Nevertheless, beekeepers come up with all kinds of wild stories about freezing them for weeks on end, only to have the caterpillars start crawling around when the frames thaw. Don’t believe it.

Here are some points to consider if you freeze your frames for wax moth control:

Check your freezer temperature with a reliable thermometer–don’t depend on the dial.

Measure times from the point when the frames, combs, wax, or super reaches the desired temperature. Don’t start timing from the moment you put them in the freezer.

Remember: if you return thawed frames to a super that was not frozen, re-infection can occur immediately.

The same is true if you return frames to an area that contains adult wax moths, such as a storage building or honey house.

If you wrap frames tightly in plastic wrap before freezing–and leave them wrapped afterwards–you can protect them from re-infestation. Wrapping also keeps condensation from forming on the combs and frames while they return to ambient temperature.

Freezing times don’t have to be exact as long as you meet the minimums. For example, my freezer is 9 degrees F. I just wrap my frames in plastic and freeze overnight . . . or over 30 nights. There’s no need to create an ordeal.

One reason the myth persists is that some beekeepers have reported that wax moths survived the winter in their hives in spite of the fact it was less than 20 degrees for weeks on end. This is most likely true because it is not 20 degrees inside a healthy beehive. The cluster keeps the wax moths warm and cozy all winter long. But as long as the colony remains healthy and strong, it will destroy most of the moths as it expands in spring.

So just remember, wax moths are not an inexorable pest destined to take over the world–they are both predictable and manageable. When the day comes that they can drop me in the freezer, then I’ll start to worry.

Rusty

HoneyBeeSuite.com

Yellowjacket redux

Rusty — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:15:14 +0000

After Monday’s post on yellowjackets I learned a lot about wasps. A representative of the Rescue Corporation–the people who make those plastic yellowjacket traps that I love–sent a positive i.d. on my nest: Vespula vulgaris. These are known as common wasps or, in North America, yellowjackets.

Dave at Georgia Wildlife Services, Inc. wrote to say the nest and surrounding envelope is called a carton. The nest is made from chewed wood mixed with saliva. Although it looked like wood shavings to me, it disintegrated when I touched it. So now this all makes sense.

When I went back up the hill the next day to look at the nest again, it was gone. Some of the wood and saliva material was still stuck to the branch but the rest had disappeared. I’m assuming the brood is especially yummy to things like opossums, raccoons, birds, or many of the other critters that live here in the Northwest woods. It’s no surprise that we don’t often see things like a fallen nest–what is a catastrophe for one species is a windfall for another. Such is nature.

A special thanks to everyone who helped with words of wisdom and species identification. I learned a lot from you all.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite.com

Yellowjacket nest falls from the sky

Rusty — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:24:55 +0000

Yesterday I was coming down the hill after checking my hives when I saw something I hadn’t noticed before. It was right in the middle of the trail and from a distance looked like a compact pile of wood shavings. Up close, however, I saw that is was a large wasp nest. It was attended by hundreds–maybe thousands–of wasps that looked like yellowjackets. As soon as I got too close I got stung in the back, just below the elastic on my bee jacket. Man, those guys hurt!

I went down to the house, changed into my complete bee suit, and grabbed my camera. What had landed in the trail was actually a small dead branch from a big-leaf maple. The branch was covered in moss where the nest had been attached. The nest had broken into pieces from the fall but you could still see layers of parallel comb filled with brood.

When I turned over the pancake of comb with my hive tool a zillion of those guys bombarded me. In all the years I have photographed honey bees I have never had them coat my hands, the camera, the strap–everything. It was creepy. When I looked through the view finder all I could see were giant black silhouettes moving across the lens. I managed to squeeze out a few photos–mostly out of focus–but at least you get the idea.

I’m still not sure what the outer layers of nest were made from but I will take a closer look when I gather the courage to go up there again. It was kind of scary. I actually don’t know if they are yellowjackets or some other type of wasp. They only thing I know for sure is they have been attacking my honey bee hives, they are yellow and black stripped, and they sting. And, yes, they live in trees.

Rusty

HoneyBeeSuite.com

Circular layers of comb filled with brood

Outer layer of hive looks like it's made of curly wood shavings.

A yellowjacket after the "quake"

Yellowjacket traps

Rusty — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:45:07 +0000

This is my favorite kind of yellowjacket trap. The plastic part can be saved and reused year-to-year, and the lure inside can be purchased anew at the beginning of wasp season. They are safe for the environment because the lure is not a poison or insecticide–it is just a compound that mimics a pheromone that yellowjackets are attracted to. Once inside the one-way trap, the yellowjackets cannot find their way back out. They eventually die of dehydration.

Yellowjackets trapped.

The lures last about ten weeks and attract twelve different species of yellowjacket (Vespula). The pheromone is quite genus-specific; in several years of using the traps I have never seen a bee end up in one.

I usually hang the traps in the trees away from the bee hives about mid-August or whenever I notice the yellowjacket population increasing. The ten-week lure takes me into mid- or late October and by that time the first freeze has occurred. A good freeze takes care of any remaining yellowjacket adults, so you are then free of them until the next fall.

Since I began using the traps I haven’t lost any hives to yellowjackets. The year before I bought the traps I lost three hives to yellowjackets, one here and two at an out-apiary . . . and it was a gruesome sight. Since then, I’ve been an enthusiastic supporter of trapping the wretched little bee-eating monsters.

I have yet to find a good use for a live yellowjacket, so dead works for me.

Rusty

HoneyBeeSuite.com

Bee abortion

Rusty — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:36:35 +0000

When food sources run low, such as during a summer nectar dearth, the workers in a honey bee hive will often expel both drones and drone pupae. Since drones eat plenty of food but don’t collect any, it is a way for the colony to conserve stores for the winter. Later on, in the fall, nearly all the drones will be removed from the hive. In warmer climates a few may be allowed to remain throughout the winter, but in cold latitudes every last drone will be discarded.

A small percentage of worker bees in every colony are known as undertaker bees. Their job is to remove the corpses from the hive. They usually fly the bodies several meters away from the hive before dropping them, and sometimes two bees can be seen carrying one body. If the bodies are dropped close to the hive, predators may be seen working over the meat. Sometimes those predators, like the bald-faced hornet shown below, get bold enough to eat corpses right on the landing board.

The landing board shown below held a hornet eating a drone pupa. Because I think like a beekeeper and not a photographer, I killed it before I remembered to take a picture. Sorry. These photos were taken in the morning when the landing board was damp with dew and bodies had accumulated overnight. About an hour later, the board was cleared of all carnage.

Undertaker bee working among dead drone pupae

Bald-faced hornet (Vespula maculata) in a mason jar

Yellow jackets and honey-robbing bees go hand-in-hand

Rusty — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:22:20 +0000

Late summer is the season when yellow jackets can be a problem for beekeepers. This is the same season that honey-robbing honey bees appear, and the miscreants can work together to produce a synergistic mess.

Yellow jackets are eusocial predatory wasps. An overwintered yellow jacket queen begins a new colony in the spring by laying a few eggs in a small nest, usually underground. Her progeny enlarges the nest, providing the queen more room to lay eggs. The daughter wasps care for the young, clean the nest, hunt, feed the young, and defend the colony. Both the nest and the colony continue to increase in size during the spring and summer months.

But just when the wasp colony is at its largest, the summer food supply begins to ebb. Less rainfall and higher temperatures mean foliage starts to dry and the insects that fed on the foliage are gone. You first notice the yellow jackets when they want to share your hamburger or sip your beer. They’ll go for soda pop, roast pig, or even corn-on-the-cob. These insects, previously in the background, suddenly come out of the woodwork. They are everywhere and they are mean.

Then, as the shorter and cooler days of autumn approach, even the alternative food sources dry up. But, although the picnic basket has disappeared, there is still fresh meat to be had . . . honey bees.

A well-populated colony of honey bees can successfully defend itself against a yellow jacket attack, but a small or weak colony can easily be overpowered by these aggressive and powerful wasps. Once in the door they will kill the bees. They will eat larvae, eggs, pupae, honey—whatever they can find. And they won’t give up until the hive is empty.

Several years ago a friend called to say that she saw some yellow jackets around one of my hives. I went over and watched in morbid fascination as three out of every four insects that went in or out of the hive was a yellow jacket. By the time I opened it, nothing was left. Even the comb was torn apart.

If a hive is weak, especially during a nectar dearth, other honey bees will often rob it of its honey stores. The fighting that ensues results in dead bees and open cells of honey—both of which can be detected by scavenging yellow jackets. If robbing gets well underway, yellow jackets are sure to follow.

So how do you prevent the carnage? In my experience, the best way to prevent an attack is to prevent robbing. As soon as nectar becomes scarce, close down the entrance to a size the colony can defend. A large and boisterous colony doesn’t need any restriction, but a small or weak colony may need its entrance reduced to one bee length. Make sure there are no alternate entrances where robbers or wasps can enter.

Also helpful are the plastic traps that contain a pheromone lure for yellow jackets. Hung in a tree or other structure, they attract the yellow jackets through a one-way entrance. Once inside, the wasps can’t find their way out. If you use these, hang them on the perimeter of the apiary but not too near the hives. The idea is to attract the wasps away from the hive, not toward it.

My other favorite yellow jacket control is to sweep them up in a butterfly net in the early spring. The very first ones you see may be queens. If you can get these, you can save yourself a lot of trouble later.

Rusty

Yellow jacket eating a honey bee

Why do honey bees abscond in the fall?

Rusty — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:41:43 +0000

Absconding is the term used when a colony of honey bees leaves its home in search of another. It is not the same as swarming. When a colony swarms, it splits in two parts: one part stays in the old home and one part finds a new home. Swarming is a form of reproduction. When a colony absconds, however, the entire colony leaves together and finds a new home—there is no increase in the total number of colonies.

I’ve heard many reports of absconding honey bees during the last month, both locally and from beekeepers in other parts of North America. But why would honey bees abscond right before winter?

Absconding is another of those honey bee behaviors that isn’t completely understood, but we can draw some conclusions based on repeated observations. Usually at least one of the following conditions exists in a hive before a colony absconds in the fall:

There is a severe nectar dearth resulting in a shortage of stored food

The hive has been heavily invaded by predators such as ants, yellow jackets, wax moths, or small hive beetles

There has been excessive disturbance from interlopers such as skunks or beekeepers

The hive is extremely hot due to the weather or severe overcrowding

In general, the environmental conditions in the hive became too stressful for the bees. Somehow they sensed they had little chance of surviving in the present circumstances and decided to leave.

Much like swarming, absconding is a process. Preparations are made well in advance of “moving day.” Usually the queen ceases to lay eggs and slims down in preparation for flying, foraging stops, scouts begin searching for a new home, and honey stores are used up.

By the time a beekeeper discovers an empty hive there is usually nothing left but wax comb. Comb left clean and neat usually indicates the bees left due to a nectar dearth and impending starvation. Comb that is shredded and irregular may have been damaged by robbing bees or yellow jackets. Comb ruined by small hive beetles or wax moths is often completely destroyed and full off feces and cocoons.

A fall absconding honey bee colony has virtually no chance of surviving the winter. The bees have no comb, no honey, no nectar source, no pollen source, and no time. They left their home because they didn’t know what else to do.

If you can catch such a colony, you may be able to save them by heavy feeding of honey, syrup, and pollen. But don’t put them back where they came from unless you can determine what was wrong and correct it. Otherwise, they will simply abscond again.

Rusty