07-06-2013, 05:23 AM
(06-06-2013, 10:48 PM)Refugee Wrote: I can see the point in using the correct timber. I have a nasty feeling that others including the commercial guys have substituted some kind of treated timber for this job and this may explain some of the problems with colony scattering. Perhaps change one dimension of the hive to make the best use of the timber while keeping the cone carriers the correct size to fit the honey extractor.
I have observed the bee problem and I noticed this year that the gooseberry bushes were absolutely humming with non colony forming bees and only today have also seen other wild species entering small cracks in walls in the houses to such an extent that I can hear them humming inside the walls when the sun is on that side of the house. I think the wild ones will do for my beans this year at least.
The use of treated pine is not the issue - looking at the science, its far from clear what the cause of colony loss is - not obvious at all - some think its related to insecticides such as the increased use of neonicotinoids but it may be more than one factor. Hives have been made out of other timbers than cedar for many many years,
Different plants have different pollinators - some use flies and other insects, some use social bees, others use solitary bees etc. - it can be (!) very specialised. Tomatoes (and other Solanaceae), for instance, can only be pollinated by bumble bees (Bombus) as they need to be vibrated and honey bees (Apis) cannot do this. Commercial growers either place colonies of bumblebees in their greenhouses or even use something like an electric toothbrushes to do this...
Personally, I've lost one queen but no colonies, but others in my local BBKA group (Weald, in Kent) have lost several, and in a couple of cases, highly experienced beekeepers have lost all their colonies.
The bees tunnelling between your bricks into the walls are probably a type of mortar aka masonry bee - once they set up shop in your building, they are difficult to dislodge (should you wish to) and tend to come back again and again as they leave heavy traces of pheromones in the brickwork which are almost impossible to remove.
Around us, solitary and other wild bees seem to be doing quite well - there are very few feral honey bee colonies around - haven't seen one for many years around here, but that's not surprising.
The main reason I want to make more boxes is that they cost a fortune to buy, and I now have 4 colonies on the go which requires a lot of expensive kit!
Each hive has:
- A paving stone base
- A strong hive stand
- Floor
- Varroa screen
- Brood box
- Mouse guard/entrance block
- 11 Brood frames
- Queen excluder
- 3 or 4 "Supers" (honey boxes)...
- ...each of which has 11 "Super" frames
- A top board
- ...and a roof
...and then there's a shed to store a lot of it over winter, plus all the spare kit you need in case a swarm turns up...
Hives are valuable - a complete hive in the summer is worth many 100s of pounds...
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