Trying Out a New Small Hive Beetle Trap

Jeff and I decided to try out a "new" small hive beetle trap.  I put the "new" in quotes because I think I have owned the kit for this trap for three years, but never have used it.  It is from David Miller in Jackson, Tennessee and I bought it at the Young Harris bee institute about three years ago (maybe four???) 

Jeff put it together and we decided to test it on one of Sebastian's hives, so we installed it on Sunday.  We'll follow up and let you know if/how it is effective. 

Below Jeff is deciding which extension to use - it came with an extension to make it useful on an eight frame hive which is what we are running at Sebastian's house (and everywhere).

Here Jeff is adding the section which is screwed onto the trap.  The trap goes on the front entry of the hive.  It provides an entrance for the bees with a screened floor so that the small hive beetles fall through the screen as they enter the hive.

Below you can see the trap attached to the hive, waiting for the bees to notice their new entrance.

Jeff slid in the oil trap.  It comes in on the side, is comprised of three chambers, each filled with oil to drown the icky creatures.  

The bees were a bit confused about their entrance, but they were beginning to figure it out when we left the apiary.

The trap kit included some soft screen to put over the inner cover opening to keep SHBs from entering through the top.  We didn't have a staple gun with us so we didn't put that on the hive, but may at our next visit (I have to get over my fear of the staple gun which is IMMENSE).  However, advice in the kit says that the bees may propolize the soft screen.......hmmm, now there's a rationalization for not getting out the staple gun!

What a Honey Harvest We Will Have in Atlanta!

I'm not going to be able to get the top box off of Colony Square without a ladder! And the nectar keeps coming. The tulip poplar flow is long over but the bees are finding other sources - probably sourwood, sumac, mimosa, and garden flowers. It's amazing. The golden flow of bee bodies flying up into the air from the hives is going on when I wake up and still going on when I come home just before dark. Amazing year!

After two years of no honey harvest, this looks like a really good year.



In Lenox Pointe, the bees had not moved up into the empty top box although the box below it is full of burgeoning honey comb as you can glimpse in this picture.



So I moved two of the fat combs from the box above into positions 2 and 3 in the empty box below and put the box on the hive below a full box. We'll see if that works.



In the moving some honey leaked onto the inner cover. Who sends out the alarm, I wonder? Before you know it, there's a line of bees sucking it back up to return it to the hive. At the lower left of the picture, one bee is transferring what she just lapped up to the mouth of another bee! How do they get the message?



Meanwhile I also went over to Stonehurst and here's what the gorgeous honey looks like over there.

Bees Doing the Washboard Dance

The bees gather a lot on the front of Lenox Pointe.  It's my only hive with out a slatted rack.  I somehow am short one for an eight frame hive.  I do have a modified one that I am currently using for the South GA Swarm hive and will retrieve it for Lenox Pointe when we move that hive to the farm.  We have slatted racks for all the hives there.

Meanwhile the bees in Lenox Pointe are often on the front of the hive, sent out to help with the heat inside the hive on a hot day.  When they are on the entry, the bees do the washboard dance.  Researchers haven't quite figured out what the bees are doing.  Evidence suggests that although they look like they are cleaning, they in fact are not.

Interestingly, as they are busy washboarding, other forager bees are trying to land.  You can see the landing foragers inserting themselves between the dancers and literally tripping over the dancers on the landing.

I made a video of them so you can see what they look like.


Since I said it makes me think of Bert doing the Pigeon in the video, below is a video of Bert, Doing the Pigeon on Sesame Street: