Bees are tough to raise

[Latestarter]

I believe it was the yellow jackets that finished off my strong hive last winter going into winter. I didn't realize what they were doing until the hive was already in collapse and it was too late to save it anyway. There were dozens & dozens of yellow jackets robbing the hive. I really feel for you. If you have weak hives, I'd just leave the honey and frames there and let the bees take what they can. no matter who's bees or what hive they came from. If they've been under attack, they can probably use all the help they can get on stores for the coming fall. IMHO, it's really too late in the year now to think about re-queening... the odds of survival are about zero, even being out there in SoCal. Sorry you're dealing with this and I hope the county can/will help you with the wasps.

The traps will help, but make sure you have them far enough away from the hives that the wasps don't have a "choice" between what they enter. I've heard they are also more effective if you hang a piece of meat inside as well. You'll probably be changing them out about every other day for a while till you get the population down. Hope you don't lose all your hives... again...

 

[babsbag]

Next year I will put out traps in the spring and get the yellow jacket queens. I will have to try the meat addition.

If I take these frames and brush the bees off do the homeless bees just die or will they try to join a hive? I hate the thought of leaving them all homeless.

If I put the frames of honey covered with bees that have no hive and put them in other hives will they accept them or kill them?

I would just leave the frames out for bees to take but I read that this will encourage robbing, I don't need to encourage that.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm sorry you lost another hive. I would imagine that the bees in the hive are likely robbers. If not, they might beg their way into the other hive. If it were me, I'd brush them off and freeze the frames. Even if they are remnants from the hive, they won't survive without a queen. Plus, you don't need any more issues than you have at the moment. Good luck battling the yellow jackets.

 

[babsbag]

I thought they were robbers too but I don't understand why they didn't go back to their hives at night.

How much brood is in your hive right now? Mine have next to none, literally.

 

[soarwitheagles]

We now have 15 beehives and most are thriving, but I am by no means an expert. There are eggs, larvae, and fresh and older brood in every hive [I keep feeding every hive pollen substitute so the queens keep laying like crazy.

My recommendation would be to shake off the bees in front of your existing hives, then store the frames for next year. Many master beekeepers have told me recently it is way too late to try to start a new hive right now...they were unanimous in their advice to build up existing hives.

Yes, those yellow jacket subterranean wasps nest can be 1000's of feet away from you. They have no problem whatsoever traveling. See if your county vector control would come out, and see if your neighbors would invite them on their property as well.

Before getting stung 25+ times, my neighbor dropped a BIG HINT to me that I completely missed. He told me about these "meat bees" and how the county would come out for free to exterminate. He even went so far as to invite me over and show me a live nest. I simply agreed mentally that the wasps could be a problem, but in all honesty, it did not register that I should have called the county immediately.

My slowness to comprehend the magnitude of the problem lead to a very painful and unnecessary experience.

Babs, I highly recommend you call your county vector control ASAP. If they will not help, you may consider calling the Sacramento/Yolo vector control at the number I gave you and ask them for the name of the pesticide they used to annihilate the nests...

Sure hope this helps!

 

[babsbag]

I wish there was something I could use that they would take back to their nest; like you do with ants. Sorry about you getting stung so many times, that is horrible, good thing you aren't allergic. My puppy is allergic to them and swells up horribly when she gets bit. I have never had a problem here before, but this year has been ridiculous so they must be close.

I will shake off the bees in front of a hive and hope they join. Do you think I could add a box with honey and hitchhiker bees to a colony or do you think that that is asking for trouble? It hurts to just abandon them.

 

[babsbag]

Oh, I did use a few thousand of the yellow jacket subterranean wasps to do a sort of anger management class...

I use an electronic fly swatter in the barn, it is a quite enjoyable way to spend an hour..but as you said, doesn't seem to reduce the overall population, but still rewarding.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I wish there was something I could use that they would take back to their nest; like you do with ants. Sorry about you getting stung so many times, that is horrible, good thing you aren't allergic. My puppy is allergic to them and swells up horribly when she gets bit. I have never had a problem here before, but this year has been ridiculous so they must be close.

I will shake off the bees in front of a hive and hope they join. Do you think I could add a box with honey and hitchhiker bees to a colony or do you think that that is asking for trouble? It hurts to just abandon them.

I would simply shake the bees off in front of one of your existing hives. No need to add honey frames unless your hives are short of honey.

 

[babsbag]

Fipronil (Frontline flea treatment for dogs) mixed into hamburger with some Rescue yellow jacket attractant is supposed to kill them. They say that 80% of the Yellowjacket nests within 100 yards will be dead within 24 hours. 95% will be gone in 48 hours. Renew the bait every day (Yellowjackets don’t like dried or rotting meat). After 4 days 100% of the Yellowjacket nests within 400 sq. yds will be dead.

I will be calling vector control but also doing this. I already have the attractant and the rest is easy to get.

 

[babsbag]

The hives are both captured swarms and not very strong. One was doing well until the robbing started, the other had to be given a queen late in the summer so not much going on at all. I had planned on feeding them heavily all winter. I saw no queens today in either hive, the one being robbed may have been killed. I have thought about combining them. The honey wouldn't hurt them at all but if there are bees on the frames as I put them in is that starting trouble?

When you treat for mites with the OA vapor do you do it more than once a year? Does it have to be done during a period of no brood like the dribble?