Please excuse my messy workshop!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
No More Papercrete
The papercrete bait hive I mentioned on a previous post has been destroyed by the storm. I have now found two major negative factors with papercrete as hive material. They are not rodent proof nor storm proof! The photo below shows the remnants of the papercrete hive right next to my drawer bait hive. I will now utilize the drawer bait hive in the out apiary where I was going to site the papercrete one. The drawer hive, made from an old cupboard drawer, has a kenyan insert and has baited two swarms in the last 3 years. I am reluctant to put good hives in out stations lest they be stolen. This drawer hive looks like a heap of rubbish and if someone steals it, then god bless them, they must really be hard up! My mini kenyan bait hive was also thrown around by the storm but you can see it is robust enough to take such punishment. No more papercrete for me!
Please excuse my messy workshop!
Please excuse my messy workshop!
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Without the messy workshop of Alexander Fleming we wouldn't have any penicillins.
ReplyDeleteDid all your colonies survive the storm?
It depends if the queen was damaged or killed. It is the right time of year for them to raise a new queen so we will see in the fullness of time! I will only assist nature so far.
ReplyDeleteIt may be serendipity that I loose a queen that produces nasty tempered bees and gain a new queen with better qualities. One can only hope.
Hi, this is the first time I've seen your site. I am a papercreter and was interested to see how your hive did in the storm. Too bad it didn't make it. What do you think of taking local honey to alleviate allergies to pollen? I'm giving it a try.
ReplyDeleteHello Judith. I had previously made a full size Kenyan hive from papercrete and populated it with bees. It died out because rodents had nibbled their way into the hive. What do you make with papercrete? I do not suffer from alergies so cannot say if local pollen helps or not but I've heard that it does over time. Be sure to get natural honey that is not over filtered.
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