All of my bees must come from hygienic queens.
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Alright thanks for the advice Jeff, we will inspect the hive on Wednesday on the holiday. One of the reasons we stopped inspecting the frames before harvest is because it caused so much carnage with squashed bees when we replace the frames back in the hive. But weâll get in there and have a good look.
The hive seems quite healthy from the outside, there is a huge population of bees coming and going and they are filling the frames every 3 weeks or so at the moment. I suppose we shall see.
On a related note, is it good for hive hygiene to empty out the pipe at the bottom of the frame so that it is free from honey? This particular frame that we harvested that had the larvae in it had a bottom pipe half full of honey from the previous harvest.
Youâre welcome Paul. Itâs worth remembering that beetle larvae wont feed on honey. Itâs dead bees, brood or pollen that contains the protein they need.
I also noticed that it was difficult to inspect flow frames without killing a lot of bees. I find traditional frames much easier to inspect.
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That makes sense Jeff, what I saw was not the close up photos, they were the ones next to a 10 cent coin and I thought it too large for a SHB. Fortunately they are easy enough to control if squashed with each hive inspection but if ignored they could become a big problem.
A couple of warm days again, there was much bee traffic at the entrances yesterday afternoon.
Regards
Hi Paul,
Where the lip of the extraction tube goes, there is a small gap for the Honey in the extraction channel to flow back into the hive behind the disc. If your hive is at the correct angle, you just have to unblock the gap sometimes. The bees like to wax it shut. There shouldnât be any honey standing in the channel.
If the honey in there is just a residue from your last extraction, it will be perfectly all right. But if nectar has been leaking down there because the bees filled the cells before sealing properly again, it could ferment over time in the channel.
Amazing that the inventors thought of the flow back gap. All we need to do is keep it open and occasionally free the little closure disc of wax.
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I agree Pete, when I saw the first photos, I thought it was wax moth larvae. The close-up was more revealing. The beetle larvae have tiny hairs on their back.
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thanks thatâs good to know. Our bees are very active in filling any gaps.
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I agree, kudos to @Webclan for highlighting it.
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In reply, I got an opportunity to photograph a wax moth larvae. This one is hanging by itâs own thread.
You can see a huge difference between SHB larvae & wax moth larvae.
The bottom photo clearly shows the feet in the middle, plus no 2 lines of fine bristles along the back. Also much darker on both ends.
Click on the comment I replied to in order to see the difference.
Also SHB larvae donât make web.
cheers