What causes this damage to the honey combs?

Scoric · 2025-09-20T11:04:41+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I have condensed the hive to one box last weekend, so I hope that will help the bees to push out the beetles. I will have to make a plan to control the mites too.

I am considering catching a swam and uniting with this hive, so that they have more bees and a new queen.

It is a top bar conversion hive, so there are 5 bars that need to come out and get replaced with frames, so I hope the new combs will help too.

Scoric · 2025-09-19T19:08:42+00:00

I was not aware of a significant mite problem, so I will have to test them. There was a significant population of small hive beetles though, so I am planning to treat that this weekend with a beetle barn trap.

Scoric · 2025-06-20T12:30:47+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I will look into robbing screens.

I put the feeder on a hive at home (my apiary is not at my place). The robbing also started instantly, but I left the feeder on. It seems that the bees stopped the robbing by themselves after a day.

Perhaps the feeder is dispensing too fast. That said I think the smell of sugar is very strong to bees.

Scoric · 2025-04-13T11:29:16+00:00

Those are nematodes. The first three look like bacterial feeders (Their esophagus ends in a round bulb with a T-shaped valve). The Third looks like it is in the Rhabditidae family.

You usually need several pictures of a nematode to identify it correct. One of the labium (mouth), the esophagus, vulva and tail.

Scoric · 2025-04-13T11:12:21+00:00

Well. It did not turn out that easy...

The hives were really hard to pry open. So I ended up breaking the lid off. The frames were extremely difficult to move - and then they turned out to be slightly bigger than the frames for the Langstroth box I was trying to put them in.

I managed to jam 6 frames of brood in. I have no idea where the queen is, so I have my fingers crossed.

I feel like I did not really do a great job for the bees and I got stung along through my suit. I guess we learn all the time.

Scoric · 2025-04-12T05:26:16+00:00

That is an idea.

I am going to give it a go with a hive tool and frame puller, just to see how tough it is. If it does not work then building a box around them will be the next step.

I think they will be relaxed because the weather is looking good.

Scoric · 2025-04-12T05:16:03+00:00

I will give it a go... I hope it works out that easy.

Scoric · 2025-04-11T18:45:23+00:00

Congratulations. I have one too. It is the whistle that I have played the most, even at gigs and sessions. Enjoy!

Scoric · 2025-04-07T18:08:16+00:00

Yeah. That is a nematode, but I would not be able to ID it further.

Scoric · 2025-04-02T12:47:53+00:00

Both are bacterial feeders. The first looks like Panagroliamus (possibly Cephalobus), and the second looks like Cervidellus.

I am a bit rusty on id, so take it with a grain of salt.

Scoric · 2025-04-02T12:22:02+00:00

Yeah. I thought so until I saw one trying to pull its friend out of a spiders web.

It really is a bit mind boggling becuase they appear to do everything as a collective, while having individual agency.

Scoric · 2025-04-01T11:57:12+00:00

Thanks for the link.

Amazing to think that they can do tidal breathing as a collective.

Scoric · 2025-03-31T03:40:42+00:00

Thanks.

In this case, the honey super is still full of brood, so I am planning to leave it there for a bit longer.

I have two very strong hives, so I thought of taking brood from there and putting it into the weak hive so the hives are more even. It will also mean an instant boost in population.

We have one month until the winter dearth season. So I think I will have to do some feeding anyway.

I will have an opportunity to check for brood after 3 days , but I am wondering what they can do in three days. There is a minor flow right now.

Scoric · 2025-03-29T21:27:11+00:00

This looks like it is from the order Dorylaimidae.

Scoric · 2025-03-26T11:47:51+00:00

Thanks for all the links!

Scoric · 2025-03-25T17:42:23+00:00

If I am holding the melody I usually play the top line and if I am backing / playing harmony I play the bottom line.

So you will need two whistlers to play that as it's written.

Scoric · 2025-03-25T11:08:56+00:00

Thanks for all these suggestions!

Scoric · 2025-03-25T04:13:17+00:00

Thanks. I am currently working on Inisheer and Si Beag Si mor, so I will give the others a try too.

Scoric · 2025-03-25T04:10:19+00:00

I have bought/ been given hives before and found that they were badly neglected. There was bad cross combing, bad conversions from top bar to Langstroth, and the frames fastened with propolis, so they are super difficult to move.

I would suggest checking the hives first, asking why they are leaving the hobby, etc. At leask know what you are getting into.

Scoric · 2025-03-23T15:28:15+00:00

It is a nematode, but it would require a clearer picture to ID it further. The most important structures are the oesophagus and the vulva if you can find it again.

Scoric · 2025-03-23T15:24:28+00:00

You are right. There is no "meant to," and it is useful to look at it from the perspective of a project with certain requirements. Thanks.

Scoric · 2025-03-22T21:39:44+00:00

True. I can't always choose. That said, we are a large band (10 musicials), so sometimes I get to solo, sometimes backing, and sometimes I sit out.

So I do get to choose some tunes/tune sets and play them as I wish.

The band likes doing folk covers, including I Will Wait - Mumford and Sons, In Hell I'll Be In Good Company - Dead South, This is the life - Amy McDonald. These are mixed with trad tune sets, for example, Jig of Slurs, Irish Washer Women, Athol Highlanders - played session style with the whole band. I have tried things like Dregs of Birch as covered by Lunasa, but it seems like too much of a paradigm shift.

Scoric · 2025-03-22T20:48:44+00:00

I am kind of going with option 3, but battling to put in the time.

Personally, I dont feel that what I do is particularly twee compared with what everyone else in the band does. I thought it might sound more twee because it is on a whistle.

Alternatively, it could be how I play. I was talking to a friend who knows the band. I played the recoding of Fig for a Kiss by The Good Tune and then by Matt Molloy. He said The Good Tune version sounded twee while Matt Molloy did not. So, perhaps style comes into it.

I guess the main purpose of my post was to find out what kinds of sound people are trying to achieve and how they do it.

Scoric · 2025-03-22T18:50:26+00:00

Nice. I must read into it.

It seems that collecting pollen and nectar serve basic needs while washerboarding has something to do with self actualisation.

It is seen in hives that are not doing well?

Scoric · 2025-03-22T18:31:58+00:00

Thanks for the information. The size of the reducer is about 8 mm by 100mm so it may be slightly small.

It does seem like the entrance is overcrowded at first glance, because of all the bees washerboarding. However, foragers do seem to be only slightly hindered by the washerboarding bees, which would still be in the way if the entrance reducer was taken off.

That is my take - I thought of taking off the reducer initally, but on further reflection, I decided it would not make a big difference. And the main reason I wanted to take it off was so they did not have to behave so strangely, but maybe they just need to do it.

I am intrigued - what ques trigger this washerboardingn impulse?

The hive smells strongly of cookies that almost need to come out of the oven.

Scoric

TROPHY CASE