New beekeeper here. Watched the entire Beekeeper series from the Flow Hive. Bought a package and distributed it into a normal brood box 4 weeks ago, and got hive beetle on my second week after feeding 1:1 and pollen patties. Bought a second package and distributed them into a nuc box this time to try and discourage the hive beetle. It was rushed and I didn’t get my nuc box painted and then it rained and the temps dropped to 50’s at night and 60’s in the day. It will be back in 70’s today and here on out. They have been in there for 4 days. I was feeding them 1:1 and some pollen patties, now on day 3-4, they are acting sick, drunk, can’t fly, and falling out of the hive. What am I doing wrong? I think its the pollen patties so I’m going to take them out of the nuc box and place them in a dry, regular brood box.
Hello and welcome to the Flow forum
Sadly, that sounds like insecticide poisoning, perhaps from one of your neighbors spraying their plants. You can search the forum for other posts about this by using the magnifying glass tool at the top of the page. Otherwise, feed them inside the hive with 1:1 sugar solution, e.g. in a baggie, and wait to see what happens.
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Thank you for your response. I appreciate that. I did some more investigation and apparently it is a classic sign of Sevin Dust pesticide usage and I’m sure others as well. It’s hard to see my bees suffer and you can’t control everyone around you. There are gardens all over where I live in people’s back yards.