Bee Keeping

[Adrian GilesParticipant @adriangiles39248]

If you want to keep bees without any hassle (or honey!) put up a bug house with plenty of bamboo tubes in it, making sure they are clear right through. If you are lucky you will be rewarded with being the custodian of a collection of mason bees or leaf cutter bees. These little bees are amazing, and give me and family hours of fun watching them work through their relatively short life cycle. No sting, no honey, but amazing work ethic, and amazing engineering capabilities! Well worth investing in a bug house just for that, we now have three on our fence right by the patio, where we can sit and watch.

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

This coming from the USA, this year We typically have different pests in a sort of schedule, June bugs then horse flies, then Tiger lady bugs. This year is the first time none of these have shown their heads. Only 1 tick, no fleas this year.When I mowed the grass Barn swallows and Swifts would circle around getting the bugs, not this year. There has been a big change bug wise from last year. Two years running only 1/2 of an apple tree was pollinated by Bumble Bees.

[JAParticipant @ja]

Posted by mark costello 1 on 04/10/2016 16:01:15:

This coming from the USA, this year We typically have different pests in a sort of schedule, June bugs then horse flies, then Tiger lady bugs. This year is the first time none of these have shown their heads. Only 1 tick, no fleas this year.When I mowed the grass Barn swallows and Swifts would circle around getting the bugs, not this year. There has been a big change bug wise from last year. Two years running only 1/2 of an apple tree was pollinated by Bumble Bees.

So what did the Swallows and Swifts do? This sound like the collapse of a food chain, very ominous.

JA

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Today I went to the bees and fitted mouse guards to the entrances, until last year I have never been bothered by mice but lost one due to them last Winter. As I worked fitting them I noticed Mr. Wood pecker had been attacking the boxes so the next job is putting on sewelling plastic to stop them. Got two stings today, one on the ankle and one on my inner thigh, i must have squashed him as I squatted down to work the hive. Thats only three stings all year so far.

Re the last post about bugs, bugs are cyclic and sometimes will miss a year as they remain in dormancy. If conditions are not right they will not emerge. True, that a non emergence can upset tye food chain and cause a decline in a population of dependent animals or birds. Here the the UK, if the little green caterpillar on Oak trees does not come at the right time then Blue Tits cannot feed the young and they abandon them.

Clive

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

one on my inner thigh, i must have squashed him as I squatted

Steady on Clive! You know, as well as I, that drones don't have a sting!

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

OK, it was bee with a sting! neutral gender MK 1. Usual exclamation, 'Ouch' 'Git'. They are getting a bit dozy now and that is why I leave them to wake up a bit before I start in the Autumn.. Also a lot of the bees are out foraging so less to deal with. I did notice that as I worked at the front of the hive the bees stacked up behind me waiting to get into the hive, just like Heathrow..

The Russian Vines are flowering and they are bringing grey pollen now.

This Wood Pecker worries me, as I had not seen the Green one for a while. Now, suddenly there is a flurry of Wood Pecker activity. They are protected of course and I am pleased to see them but not around the hives.

Clive

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I didn't see many bumble bees at all this year, possibly my lowest count ever.

Been walking the dog every pm for 20+ years, it was a dry summer on the east coast of scotland this year too, the farmers look like they've done great this year

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Don't know where the birds went, They just are not here. Seen a couple of small birds incapable of flight out in the open. Do not know if They were abandoned or something else, We put them in the forest and Mother shut up. We are rural Ohio 8 miles from the City with plenty of farm fields and I live next to about 100 acres of old growth forest.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

In response to Mark's comment on the lack of bugs for the birds to feed on, I have noticed that now when I use my car in the summer months my windscreen and headlights no longer get plastered with dead bugs as used to happen a few years ago. Does this mean there are less bugs around or perhaps the car is more aerodynamic and misses the bugs, probably there are much fewer bugs due to environment or climate factors. Reference the subject of Mason Bees or as they are commonly known Solitary Bees, I have a number of colonies in my garden using sections of bamboo, this year I saw a huge increase in their activity, probably due to favourable weather here in the south, any south facing location is suitable for them and they are excellent pollinators and of course no honey is produced and no sting they are fascinating to watch in spring, anything up to 40 or 50 busy laying and sealing up their cells.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Never mind the 'splats'. The night lit up by poor headlights of the period, on a warm summer's evening, would make it appear to be 'snowing' in the 1950s and into the '60s. So many moths, etc. This is no longer a normal occurence, these days.

Ask any ecologist, who records/maps moth numbers etc, and they will tell you that numbers have diminshed rapidly since the introduction of neonicitinoids. Bad news for everyone and particularly for the fauna that would feed on these insects.

[joeyParticipant @joey]

We seem to have the same "shortages" of bugs and birds in South Africa. I am wondering how much is contributed by genetically modified plants.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

There is a lot of research going on at the moment with Ornithologists and Entomoligists with respect to the drop in populations of the birds and insects. True, that Neonicotinoids are having an effect.as they are residual and far from breaking down quickly in the soil are staying active for up to 24 months. It is also appearing in pollens from treated plants.

Now, there is a food chain that stretches through all vertibrates and insects that prey on each other and a parallel is the pesticide DTD which all but wiped out raptors. Now we are told that all sorts of medical chemicals are appearing in the drinking water and one is the drug used for Epilepsy! Also that the birth pill hormones are making fish and frogs neutral gender.

Bumble bees are just as prone to the pesticides as any other insect, this year I counted about 20 Bumble bees on the Lavender, but this years count is less than half of last years count. There were a lot less insects on the last flowering nectar bush, Ivy, this year, normally covered in every insect you could think of, plus butterflies.

Something is up and I dont know what.

Clive

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Asian Hornet , bad news, after finding one nest and destroying and the Hornets another has been sighted in Somerset.

I am awaiting more info on this one. I hope they do not become established in the UK. At this time of year the virgin Queens will be issuing out of the nest to mate and then hibernate till next year. So, if you are in the Mendips in Somerset keep your eyes open for them.

Clive

[JAParticipant @ja]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 05/10/2016 22:20:29:

Asian Hornet , bad news, after finding one nest and destroying and the Hornets another has been sighted in Somerset.

I am awaiting more info on this one. I hope they do not become established in the UK. At this time of year the virgin Queens will be issuing out of the nest to mate and then hibernate till next year. So, if you are in the Mendips in Somerset keep your eyes open for them.

Clive

North of the Mendips according to the BBC. This is quite a small area of small fields, some orchards, small steep hills and two large lakes (reservoirs). There are few villages and only a couple of towns.

JA

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I am awaiting more info on this one. I hope they do not become established in the UK. At this time of year the virgin Queens will be issuing out of the nest to mate and then hibernate till next year. So, if you are in the Mendips in Somerset keep your eyes open for them.

Whats the easy way to destroy them Clive?

Antifreeze? Water? What?

Edited By Ady1 on 06/10/2016 00:49:29

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Whats the easy way to destroy them

Which? The nests or the queens?

Nests need proper annihilation by the experts and if queens have mated and left the nest we are potentially in big trouble!

Queens can look as though they are dead, but wasp queens can survive in a freezer…

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

In the case of Asian Hornets there is a need to report it to the Authorities, this to confirm it is an Asian Hornet and then to set up search and destroy teams.

The bees in the UK have not been attacked by Asian Hornets and therefore lack the recognition and a defence mechanism. Bees can overcome individual Hornets by 'balling' them which means a mass of bees jump on the hornet and kill it by vibrating their bodies and creating heat which the Hornet cannot stand.

I personally would not mess with an Asian Hornets nest, call the authorities and they have specialized gear to resist stings and pesticides that kill on contact.

North of the Mendips, open fields and small woods, ideal country to build and make a formidable army of Hornets to spread out across the UK. They can kill and I understand that some 6 people have died in France so far.

Clive

[Matt CParticipant @mattc]

Asian Hornet Information

Please see the following links for the GB non-native species secretariat website

http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadNews.cfm?id=138 NNSS Asian hornet ID sheet

http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadNews.cfm?id=137 NNSS Asian Hornet Poster

Please report any sightings via their website or email alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk

Matt

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Yesterday, I went to the bees and started putting red perforated plastic around the hives, as the day before I noticed that Mr Wood Pecker has been testing the hives. Just little peck marks on the boxes, I suppose he was trying to test the reaction of the bees to his tapping. It is very early for him to start attacking the hives as I usually only notice him about mid January. It is a big Green Wood pecker by the way who normally only goes for the rotten trees and old stumps in the orchard. Then I hear from my bee keeper friend his hives also being attacked so he was off to cover his hives too.

This may sound presumptous but the bees and birds seem to know in advance about the weather, and I am now wondering if this behavior is some sort of forecast for Winter, Also a couple of the hives are building up propolis in the entrances! All very strange.

Clive

[JAParticipant @ja]

Clive – Would Asian Hornets survive a hard winter?

JA

[Matt CParticipant @mattc]

New app to report Asian hornet sightings **LINK**

MattC

[John FlackParticipant @johnflack59079]

Ady1 ………..moved my lawn on Sunday (first cut) dozens of the b…..s their comatosed state scored multiple direct hits .

Perhaps they have retired to devon😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Some bees have started to use one of our bird nesting boxes as a hive.

 

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 19/04/2017 18:24:14

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Probably the tree bumble. Be gone by about July/August. Not the most moderate of temperament – ie more likely to sting than most bumbles. Last bird box colony I moved was three seasons ago. Nothing has used that box since.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

One of our bird boxes was taken over by bees last year but have seen no activity this year. We have had a return of bees that live in the ground and leave a mound of fine earth with a hole in the centre. They can also be seen on the surface lying in shallow troughs.

Brian

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