As always our Shipston and District Beekeepers (virtual) 2nd Monday meeting started with the 100 Club draw with ‘Tractor’ Mike winning 1st prize. The money will be on it’s way to you shortly (and to Steve Turner, who won 2nd prize).
A big theme of this meeting was how to stop wasps getting into the hives; some members were finding them particularly aggressive this year. Some advocate using Nippon ant gel that has worked well in the past (the wasps take it to their nest where it poisons all the other wasps). The bees seem to ignore it – apart from one member who noticed for the first time that his bees were also attracted to the gel. Various forms of blockage or cover over the entrance were discussed, from a strip of damp proof course material pinned above the entrance so that it hangs down over the front of the hive (leaving just 1 bee-space gap, so the bees have to go in through the ends, too complicated for the wasps) or my particular favourite, using a piece of conduit to cover the entrance (same principle).
A great benefit of these Q&A-themed meetings is that a discussion kicks off and suddenly you are thinking….so it’s not just me then! My 2 hives are just bursting with bees and it’s been difficult (well, impossible on one hive) to clear them down into the brood. It turns out that several other members also have extremely busy hives and have also had problems clearing the bees down into the brood. Ah, so not just me then!
As always thanks to Chris Paxford for hosting the meeting and keeping the questions and answers flowing.
