I haven't opened up the hive for an inspection since July. Soon it will be too cold to open up the hive so I needed to get in and check on them. I intended to do a full hive inspection but because the last 3 times I opened the hive was without smoke causing the bees to be agitated I decided it was good just to open the hive look into the top and have an experience where everything went smoothly to boost my confidence back up. It worked because the bees didn't mind me at all and even though I was nervous like the first time I opened the hive all went well.
I did a powder sugar shake in the top super. We have decided against using chemical treatments and medications for mites but still want to do what we can to help the bees out. By sprinkling the top of each box with half a cup of powder sugar it knocks some of the mites off and causes the rest of the bees to groom themselves really well also getting rid of mites. I need to do this another time but to all the boxes next time.
I removed the queen excluder but it was not easy because they have propolised everything extremely well.
How did you do it? Did you use a sifter? Dump and run method? I love the white bee, looks like an angel.
ReplyDeleteI used a sifter and then backed away quickly. While they didn't like it they weren't all that angry.
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