Bees walking on the floor

[troy1]

our apiary area contains one hive situated within 7m sq with a 2.4m high mesh fence, the question is we have had between 10 and 20 bees walking around the floor, is this normal behaviour one or two of the bees did have tatty wings
Thanks

 

[Gilberdyke John]

our apiary area contains one hive situated within 7m sq with a 2.4m high mesh fence, the question is we have had between 10 and 20 bees walking around the floor, is this normal behaviour one or two of the bees did have tatty wings
Thanks

Tatty as in damaged by eg a metal queen excluder or tatty as in deformed by disease?)

 

[theeggman]

What is your varroa situation? It could be DWV and varroa is a vector for it.

Tim.

 

[Rich0909]

I find it not uncommon to have a few wandering around where I have hives on hard surfaces but if their wings look like this:

http://www.die-honigmacher.de/kurs4/seite_33302.html

you need to take varroa control measures quickly.

Rich

 

[theeggman]

It appears that the OP hasn't been on line since he / she posted the Q?

I do hope they return soon and gain some info. / help.

In my case it was DWV by varroa.

Tim.

 

[troy1]

Bees have only been in the hive for 3 weeks from a large 6 frame nuc, all frames are now being worked on and the super is being drawn. Is this enough time for the varroa to create a problem, have not put an inspection board in yet. Most of the bees the wings seem ok one or two maybe suspect. All advise welcome, thanks

 

[BeeJayBee]

Do you have any photos of the bees that are walking on the ground? It'll be easier to tell if it's dwv or if they're just worn out workers.

Bees have only been in the hive for 3 weeks from a large 6 frame nuc,

If you think it's dwv it might be good to ask what varroa treatment the bees have had in the last twelve months, whoever gave or sold you the nuc should have records they can refer to.

 

[troy1]

Here is a cross section of the floor walkers this evening, we have put the observation board in with paper smeared with vaseline to try and trap the verroa to get a count, we have also opened up the entrance for ventilation. Is 24 hrs enough to get the count? Thanks again for the replies, sorry the photos took so long!

 

[Rich0909]

Looks like DWV to me I'm afraid. You'll get a better varroa figure by leaving 3-5 days and averaging but one day will give you an indication of whether you have a heavy load or not.

Rich

 

[BeeJayBee]

It could be that they're just worn out but it does look like DWV (beebase image gallery https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/gallery/index.cfm?galleryid=1 ) a couple look as if it might be k-wing but I think it's quite rare these days, so might not be. (picture at the bottom of this page http://beeinformed.org/2012/11/whats-wrong-with-my-hive/ )

Have you looked inside the hive recently, and if so have you seen any drones with crumpled wings? When was the last time a more experienced beekeeper helped you with an inspection? Do you know when these bees, or the parent colony, were last treated for varroa?

 

[troy1]

Thanks for the replies, looks like we have a massive verroa problem he hive has a super on at the moment what would be the best way of treating them? The count was massive around 50 within 24 hrs. Would sugaring them in the meantime help whilst waiting for treatment to arrive? Tried to get the history of the nuc and previous treatment but no reply yet, but he was a commercial bee seller.

 

[BeeJayBee]

There are guidelines for sellers of nucs on both beebase https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=630 and BBKA site http://tinyurl.com/qzpkmdm

You've only had them for a few weeks, so these bees brought the problem with them. I'd be tempted to return them to the dealer and ask for a clean replacement.

If you don't want to do that you could try icing sugar in the interim, you can use MAQS with supers on. I think thymol would work now, but it means you wouldn't be able to use any honey from that colony. I think, but somebody else will know for sure.

Has a more experienced beekeeper looked at these bees with you? What are the frames like?

 

[pargyle]

Thanks for the replies, looks like we have a massive verroa problem he hive has a super on at the moment what would be the best way of treating them? The count was massive around 50 within 24 hrs. Would sugaring them in the meantime help whilst waiting for treatment to arrive? Tried to get the history of the nuc and previous treatment but no reply yet, but he was a commercial bee seller.

Well .. 50 in a day is significant but it's not massive, the DWV is not good though .. have you had a look inside the hive yet ? I'd have a look and see if you have capped drone brood and take an uncapping fork and drag the drone grubs out along with the caps. You will be able to see how heavy the infestation is by the amount of mites that you can see on the drone grubs - it's a far better indicator than the inspection tray. By doing this you will also remove the breeding mites for this cycle - you will lose any emerging drones but you are not going to cry about that.

If you are on 14 x 12's you can put a national or even a super frame in there and the bees will build drone comb on the bottom of it - dead easy then to just cut the comb off the bottom of the frame and get rid of the next cycle of varroa breeders.

There are mixed views on icing sugar on here - they vary from the 'only good for cakes' camp to the 'useful as part of an IPM programme' brigade. I use it and it will certainly knock off a percentage of the phoretic mites and in conjunction with uncapping any drone cells will give the colony a bit of a break and you can then plan what you intend to do. Beejoyful is right .. MAQS will work with supers on and thymol will work but your honey will be contaminated with the smell and taste of it, unless you take the super off and leave it off until after the thymol has done its stuff.

First rule of beekeeping applies though - don't panic, think what you are doing and make a plan before diving into doing something that will not help. It's quite warm at present and any aromatic treatments could be quite aggressive on the colony as well as knocking down the varroa. Care needed.