Author Topic: Uh Oh! Poop In The Hive (Read 6571 times)

Jen · « **on:** January 17, 2017, 03:50:18 pm »

This nuc has poop on the sugar cake and all around it. Some dead bees in between the frames. What should I do?

Perry · « **Reply #1 on:** January 17, 2017, 04:16:21 pm »

Not much you can do, and I don't think you have a big problem there anyway.

Jen · « **Reply #2 on:** January 17, 2017, 04:49:51 pm »

Well then how about simply replacing the soiled sugar cake?

Perry · « **Reply #3 on:** January 17, 2017, 06:11:28 pm »

You could just scrape off the poop with a hive tool if you wanted.

Jen · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2017, 08:47:05 pm »

I have one hive that hasn't touched their sugar cake, so I replaced the soiled one. Making some new cakes tonight too. Thanks Perry.

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2017, 09:14:00 pm »

Jen, as soon as those bees can take 1:1 sugar syrup, I would mix in some fumigilin. I have one hive I bought as a package last spring. The first week they started decorating the front of the hive with poop. Treated with fumigilin. Late in the fall, it hit again. Treated again. This colony ended up being so strong in the late fall that I put a 3rd brood box on because they were so over crowded. Last weekend there were signs of nosema again. I am going to treat them with fumigilin as soon as possible.

Jen · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2017, 09:44:12 pm »

Fumigilin is a good thing to have on hand. The rats that got into my bee shed last winter ate mine and half the plastic bottle.

Can't help wonder tho, why that one hive of yours keeps getting nosema repeatedly, haven't heard that problem before?

I figure we have about 2 months of winter left, thinking that might be too long to wait for the bees to come out, poop out, and dry out...

efmesch · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2017, 05:05:52 am »

Thankfully, I can't talk as a man with experience on the matter, but from the literature I would say that Baker is on the right track. I would give them a decent dose of fumagillin as soon as possible.
the reason for return bouts with diarrhea probably has to do with equipment that hasn't been adequately cleaned. During the spring and summer season, with a lot of egg laying by the queen going on, the colony keeps ahead of the infestation, but as things slow down, it breaks out.

yes2matt · « **Reply #8 on:** January 18, 2017, 07:47:41 am »

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #9 on:** January 18, 2017, 08:00:16 am »

I don't aim to make this a discussion about fumigilin.

I heard Ed Colby speak last fall. He is a regular contributor to Bee Culture magazine and has just been elected as president of the CO State Beekeepers Assoc. He passed on one of those "old bee guys" bit of wisdom that I am going to try. He suggested dosing all your hives with fumigilin in the spring especially those hives that just seem to sit there. That's those colonies that never thrive but don't die and they never get ahead enough to fill honey supers. Ed said the turn around will be worth the cost.

Jen, time to replace your rat eaten bottle of fumigilin.

efmesch · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2017, 08:49:14 am »

The standard recommendation in Israel is to include the proper dose of Fumagillin when giving the fall feeding. I suppose that helps pull the girls through the winter more successsfully and enter spring time on the right foot. Than again, that doesn't go counter to the advice Baker passed on from Ed Colby.

I'm really guilty.

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2017, 08:56:47 am »

Quote from: efmesch on January 18, 2017, 08:49:14 am

The standard recommendation in Israel is to include the proper dose of Fumagillin when giving the fall feeding. I suppose that helps pull the girls through the winter more successsfully and enter spring time on the right foot. Than again, that doesn't go counter to the advice Baker passed on from Ed Colby.

I'm really guilty.

Fall treatments are what I have always heard, and practice, as well. Ed Colby suggests doing both.

Jen · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2017, 01:37:31 pm »

I haven't ever had a problem with nosema yet. And our winters from 8 years back have been mild. I've only done one fall treatment about 4 years ago, but don't really see the need too. This year we've had some serious freezing snaps and 18 inches of snow. So maybe I should start thinking treatment in the fall season now.

In the hive with the poops, I removed the stained sugar cake and replaces with a clean one

becsbeehive · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2017, 03:06:29 am »

I just discovered these

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2017, 03:24:47 am »

Quote from: becsbeehive on January 20, 2017, 03:06:29 am

I just discovered these

At Christmas time we have special emoji that sound like bells!

rober · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2017, 10:05:40 pm »

when it's warm enough it's more efficient to mix up some fumigillin & spray the bees directly with it. a tech at the usda lab told me that they've found low nosema spore counts after treating with fumigillin but within 2-3 weeks they'd rebounded. no other info was offered so now if I treat with fumigillin I treat a 2nd time 2 weeks later. I also bought some nosevit & will give that a try this summer.

Perry · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2017, 10:25:40 pm »

Quote from: rober on January 21, 2017, 10:05:40 pm

when it's warm enough it's more efficient to mix up some fumigillin & spray the bees directly with it. a tech at the usda lab told me that they've found low nosema spore counts after treating with fumigillin but within 2-3 weeks they'd rebounded. no other info was offered so now if I treat with fumigillin I treat a 2nd time 2 weeks later.

Interesting....hmmmm. I always wonder about the efficacy of fumagilan after a few days in sugar syrup as apparently it breaks down. Spraying would seem to be a faster way to get them to take it.

rober · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2017, 05:55:54 am »

& as we've all seen sometimes a hive just won't take syrup.

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2017, 11:10:18 am »

Thanks rober. That's a good alternative "trick". Is that "old bee guy" wisdom?

Les · « **Reply #19 on:** January 22, 2017, 03:53:11 pm »

Jen, not being an expert by any stretch, I took the advice from our bee group. As my boxes come off, I took a propane torch to them and lightly went over the inside of the boxes. As I pulled off my frames with and without comb, I sprayed them with hydrogen peroxide and let them dry in the sun.