Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: litefoot on July 02, 2014, 01:15:17 am
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Are there effective herbicides that won't have a negative effect on bees? My back yard is becoming a jungle because I'm afraid to use anything. Can I screen in the girls for a day or two after spraying to mitigate the effects or am I just asking for trouble? Any safe alternatives?
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You can use salt....
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Hi Litefoot :) Pure apple cider vinegar kills most everything that I don't want in my yard, from crabgrass tendrals, very stickery bushes, to lawn grass itself where the mower won't reach. Either pour it on straight right in the middle of the plant, or you can pour some in a regular hand sprayer and spray it on. One good drenching and the plant will be shriveled up the next day.
I would be wary of spraying unwanted plants in the vegetable garden soil tho, it changes the ph of the soil which is not good.
And by the way, I asked the same question when I got my bees as well. I now let dandelions grow with a smile on my face :)
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Mix one gallon of vinegar with a cup of episdom salt and table spoon dish detergent in a sprayer and spray when the weeds are dry, next day weeds are dead.
Ken
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If it wasn't for weeds I wouldent have a yard. :D
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With any sprays that are applied around the bees whether chemical, or organic, including herbicides, pesticide, fungicides, fertilizers, or any others. There are more than the one way for it to come to be in the hive.The three most common ways are. 1 In the nectar and on the pollen being brought in to the hive by the bees. 2 From the drifting of the mist or powder into the hive during the application process. 3 From contaminated water that the bees bring back into the hive from ponds, standing water and dripping from sprayers after the application. But it is also the direct spraying of the bees as they are foraging in the field. as well as when liquid sprays are used and diluted with water and sprayed on as a mist, this moisture attracts the bees to it as a water source and bring it into the hive.
Method and timing of applications becomes an important issue in applying sprays and powders. We don't want any thing drifting towards the hive when it is being sprayed. We don't want to be spraying on the bees so spray when the bees are not active. Spray early enough before the bees start to fly so the water mist that is carrying the chemical has time to dry before the bees begin actively foraging for the day. By eliminating as much standing stagnate water and ensuring the bees have access to clean fresh water.
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Vinegar, huh? That dang stuff has so many uses! And Apis, thanks for the suggestions on the time-of-day for application.
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If it wasn't for weeds I wouldent have a yard. :D
:D Me too. I'm thinking of the old "mowing the lawn and finding a car in your yard" joke.
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Believe it or not, I use Round up..
I mow and trim around the hives, and that night after dark I go out and spray with round up. Make sure no rain is in the forecast for a couple of days and just have at it..
My fields, and fields at my Outyards get sprayed with roundup. Many hives are less than five feet from the edges of the fields. I have not noticed any problems associated with the spraying of round up, but I do try to keep my combs rotated every three to five years.
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I do it the old fashioned way, I suit up and mow it. I just happened to do so tonight and riled them up something awful! Ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNlKFKoFM5E&feature=youtu.be
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Love your bee yard Blue :)
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"If it wasn't for weeds I wouldent have a yard. :D"
dang woody you are too funny!............ :D
litefoot, this is a hard one, like scott, we have used roundup on occasion, nothing more. (see apis post on application and scott's, after dusk) but.....we have more of a problem with noxious weeds at our city res than we do in the country, mainly because of a neighboring property. never used anything in the country, except some roundup on weeds growing under or near the electric fence where my bees are kept. my bees are kept in the country, but sometimes i will bring nucs and hives back to my city res. i 'educate' and work with my city neighbors about the use of pesticides/herbicides and letting me know about it so i can minimize any incident with the bees.
anyway, good post by apis....(and also scott mentioning after dark).....
"Method and timing of applications becomes an important issue in applying sprays and powders. We don't want any thing drifting towards the hive when it is being sprayed. We don't want to be spraying on the bees so spray when the bees are not active. Spray early enough before the bees start to fly so the water mist that is carrying the chemical has time to dry before the bees begin actively foraging for the day. By eliminating as much standing stagnate water and ensuring the bees have access to clean fresh water."
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If it blooms it ain't a weed. ;D I mow or pull any unwanted. Jim
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I put scrap pond liner (I have BIG scrap) under the hive stand. Then if I have to bait for ants, I put the bait under the pond liner, which is where the ants are anyway
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Every plant blooms,(one way or another) the bees don't work them all. Like woody said ;D, also i only cut trees and brush out of my fence rows alot of the weeds the bees work. I also use Round-Up (late in the evening) to rid unwanted weeds and brush from pastures, never had a problem with it, except when i sprayed my wifes flower garden >:(, i thought it was weeds coming up ??? I had to remind her that i was the King and this is my Castle, ;D Jack
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What Jack. King of the doghouse.
Sent from my LG-P500h using Tapatalk 2
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Every plant blooms,(one way or another) the bees don't work them all. Like woody said ;D, also i only cut trees and brush out of my fence rows alot of the weeds the bees work. I also use Round-Up (late in the evening) to rid unwanted weeds and brush from pastures, never had a problem with it, except when i sprayed my wifes flower garden >:(, i thought it was weeds coming up ??? I had to remind her that i was the King and this is my Castle, ;D Jack
How many you been through? Wife's that is..... :laugh:
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Funny seeing this thread after seeing Yankee's overgrown bee yard pics! :laugh:
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Use the 4 by 8 sheet of 3/4 inch marine plywood, painted with primer.
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Marine plywood is $110 a sheet for 5/8" here. Rubber roofing (pond liner) is about $10. Ask for epdm roofing.
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Old rusty full of nail holes metal barn siding does a good job to keep the weeds down. and i set 8 in. concrete blocks on top of it to set the hives on. Jack
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Good idea right there Jack, got plenty of that stuff available.
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Boiling water does a good job if the weeds are shallow rooted and there aren't too many.
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Gas powered weed eater. Knock the grass and weeds down around the hives 4 or 5 times during the year.
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I'm going to place aluminum blankets over my hive boxes and use napalm. :):) Like Apis, I use a weed eater a few times a season.
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Spray roundup when the bees stop flying in the evening and by the time the bees start to fly the next day the sprayed plants will have quite producing pollen and secreting nectar. The water mist will have dried.
Don't be afraid of using her asides and pesticides around their hives, just ask and learn how to do it pin a safe manner.
Thanks for asking the question and starting the discussion on this thread. A lot of useful information has been presented here.
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This product may be overkill for your situation. Tordon. But be careful. If the roots are intermingled with a desirable plant, shrub or tree it could kill it as well. I speak from experience here. I tried to use it on Virginia creeper, only to have the Virginia Creeper flourish and it got my Oak Leaf Hydrangea.
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Tordon it sterilizes the earth put it on and nothing will grow in that area for 10 years except for the most noxious weeds. Here is a story about Tordon and what can happen when used. consider this before using https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-and-loose-tordon-herbicide-move (https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-and-loose-tordon-herbicide-move)
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Believe it or not, I use Round up..
I mow and trim around the hives, and that night after dark I go out and spray with round up. Make sure no rain is in the forecast for a couple of days and just have at it..
Exactly what I do and have done for almost 5 years. I keep the vegetation dead around my hives, which I know is not an option for everyone. The bare ground seems to keep the ants away as well.
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Tordon it sterilizes the earth put it on and nothing will grow in that area for 10 years except for the most noxious weeds. Here is a story about Tordon and what can happen when used. consider this before using https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-and-loose-tordon-herbicide-move (https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-and-loose-tordon-herbicide-move)
Thanks Apis, "grotesquely curled up leaves" That describes my Oak Leaf Hydrangea. I might as well go ahead and dig it up.
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"Gas powered weed eater. Knock the grass and weeds down around the hives 4 or 5 times during the year."
as i said earlier, i have used roundup as well. my problem is two fold, living in the country, we get all sorts of funky weeds that grow in front of my hives, and they come back at some point, and also the lowest line on my electric fence is 6" to 8" off the ground. i need to keep the weeds off the fencing, so as a matter of habit, the weeds get whacked down every week, and roundup treatments in the spring and fall.