Copper strips?

I read this on a New Zealand forum, so December is the same as our June weather/temps and February is our August.
http://www.greenurbanliving.co.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1057

Wed Dec 14, 2011
In one of my Top bar hives I have lined each entrance hole with some copper strips. The copper I used was just some copper plant tags I bought from the garden centre. I just timmed them with snips and then wrapped them around the inside of each hole to line the hole and then tacked them in place. I know that copper is an organic and natural treatment for mites in the garden and people often wear copper bracelets for their health giving properties.

Anyway I have noticed that this colony is particularly healthy and strong and I have not seen any sign of varroa within the hive.

I know this is probably just a random thing but does anyone else what to try this and report back on how their colony fairs health wise? Of course keep a close eye on varroa levels and if you see high levels of course treat with another conventional method.

With a Langsroth hive perhaps you could take a length of copper across the entrance way so the bees have to pass over it?​

The follow up is

Mon Feb 06, 2012
My copper hive is going strong. Have already taken around 15 jars of honey off it. I have searched a comb of drone brood and only was able to find one varroa mite. No evidence of varroa falling through mesh floor. Very healthy hive still. Fingers crossed it stays that way.​

What do you think?

If it does work, how does it work? Would it be the same as deterring slugs by giving them an electric charge?

Could it do any harm?

.

Pure nonsense, that is what I think...

like this: "My copper hive is going strong. Have already taken around 15 jars of honey off it"

If it would be 150 jars or 450 jars

Didnt say how big the jars are lol.

wightbees said:

Didnt say how big the jars are lol.

Click to expand...

According google they are at least small

http://www.google.fi/search?hl=fi&q...urce=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=21pjT-XgIeLN4QSZs_DlBw

That NZ lady has got 50 jars

So is this good/bad for a TBH .

Copper has an effect on V mites, Something to do with copper ions. I dont know of any research that has been done though. There was a lot of discussion obout it on BEE L some years ago, Dave Cushman had some info on Copper Gluconate, (commonly referred to as hive salts) on his site.

google "Antimicrobial properties of copper alloy touch surfaces"

Copper is being used in may places now to kill a wide range of microbes deposited on the alloys, for example hospital around the world are now using it for door handles and other places people generally place their hands

7. Feeding contaminated bees with
organic cupric salts.
An anti-varroa method, much more
subtle than all the other ones, has
been designed and tested (in the
laboratory and on the field) by
Popeskovic a n d Bounias17,37,40.
Appropriate doses of copper sulphate
or, even better, of copper gluconate
are added to the hive’s food. A varroa
absorbing the haemolymph of a bee
or a drone nourished in this way, is
asphyxiated within some days.
Indeed, varroa’s respirationis assured
by external membranes (peritremes)
and by particular cells
(haemocyanins) transporting the
oxygen to its whole organism. Copper
salts ‘block’ these cell’s activity and
are harmless for the bees because their
respiration is assured by a tracheal
system. The toxicity of copper
sulphate is virtually absent for bees
provided that their diet is sufficiently
rich in pollen. If not, they will suffer
from a slight excess of sugar in their
haemolymph5*6,7*3435. Bees fed with
copper gluconate apparently do not
suffer at all, they are, on the contrary,
in a physiological state of ‘hormesis’33,
favourmg longevity and protecting
against intoxication by Amitraze,
Fluvalinate and probably alsoby other
pesticides7*363

Good results are obtained with this
method in cases of low or moderate
contamination of a hive by varroa.
Unfortunately the procedure becomes
inefficient when there is acute
parasitism37. Copper sulphate and
gluconate kill varroa within some
days (five on average) but such a time
lapse still allows a certain proportion
of their females to lay eggs (at least
one: see table).Therefore the treatment
can not exercise a ‘choc’ effect. When
the parasites are too numerous in a
hive, they reproduce themselves more
rapidly than the chemicals’ effects
they endure. Nevertheless’ the bees
treatment with copper gluconate is,
even in such cases, advisable because
it helps them overcoming intoxication
by pesticides37.
Popeskovic and Bounias’ method has
been criticised by some researchers
who say that varroa possesses a
‘differentiated’ tracheal system, that
such an equipment is incompatible
with the presence of haemocyanines
in its haemolymph and questions the
usefulness of the bees’ treatment with
copper salts. Varroa tracheal system
is composed by five anterior and four
posterior ramifications in junction
with each other at three levels”***. At
present, we completely ignore
whether this system can or can not
oxygenate varroa’s organism entirely,
lacking physiological data on this
point. But, it is certain that, without
the presence of haemocyanines in the
parasite’s haemolymph, it becomes
impossible to explain the success of
Popeskovic and Bounias’ remedy in
cases of low and moderate
contamination of a hive. The criticism
is thus at least partly unjustified.
CONCLUSION
The struggle against varroa, as
actually engaged, is useless. Varroasis
is now a ‘quasi’ universal (‘mondial’?)
problem, which is not surprising.
Feeding the bees with copper
gluconate is the only non-polluting
and possible remedy available to the
beekeeper for fighting against the
parasite. But this method is only
successful when the hives are not too
seriously contaminated. What then
should be done in case of intense
parasitism? Some (if not most)
beekeepers, I assume, will use
pesticides. They may benefit from an
amelioration: protect their bees
against poisoning by these chemicals
by simultaneously adding copper
gluconate to their food. Nevertheless,
this does not rule out other
undesirable consequences: the
pollution of the environment , the
‘fork’ efficiency of the pesticides and
the danger of new contamination of
the hive by newly emerged bees and
drones and by returning foragers. For
these reasons, the creation of new
remedies is essential. But this will
imply some changes in our research
strategy. I proposed the following
ones in an article not yet published.
Firstly, we should not systematically
try to kill varroa in order to learn
more about its behaviour and
particularly about its communication.
Such studies are now feasible.
Researchers design and progressively
ameliorate an artificial feeding
system: a membrane through which
the female varroa accepts to absorb
an artificial haemolymphgJOJ1. At the
same time, the attempts to rear the
parasite in laboratory conditions are
progressing**32. The knowledge of an
animal’s way of communicating may
allow us to interact with that animal
without polluting the environment
(for example, by exposing it to the
alarm signal of its species, we may
cause it to flee). Secondly, such
remedies should be used preventively
(before the parasites invade the hive
and particularly its brood cells).
Finally, research in this field needs
collaboration between beekeepers
and scientists. Beekeepers possess
important knowledge with regard to
the problem of Varroasis, often
transmitted without texts and on the
other hand, scientists obtain equally
important data which are not always
transmitted in a way that is accessible
to beekeepers. n

Copied from net

wightbees said:

7. Feeding contaminated bees with
organic cupric salts.

Click to expand...

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16059

Is it the same artical ? i know the subject is the same.

Yes, I remember Hivemaker's thread about copper gluconate.

I just wondered if anybody thought there might be any mileage in having copper doormats.

Many thanks Wightbees, for valuable info. Finman, "Pure nonsense, that is what I think..." maybe you should think again.

Hivemaker has a topic on this,not sure if he is going ahead and trying it.
Any luck he will let us all know.

I think we'll try the copper strips on one hive, we can compare it with the others.

I completely misunderstood the title of this thread.

Thought it referred to a naughty member of the constabulary

or something ordered for a stag party.

And posts like the one below didn't help:

BeeJoyful said:

the copper strips on one hive, we can compare it with the others.

Click to expand...

Please try to be a bit more careful in naming threads.

D.

Dusty Rhodes said:

I completely misunderstood the title of this thread.

Thought it referred to a naughty member of the constabulary

or something ordered for a stag party.

And posts like the one below didn't help:



Please try to be a bit more careful in naming threads.

D.

Click to expand...

and please be a bit more careful when reading them?

for anyone wanting to try it (or to use it round pots to stop snails and slugs crawling up them), you can get 36 yards of self-adhesive copper foil (all sorts of widths, around 1/4") for around a fiver from a company supplying it for stained glass work (it's used for Tiffany style "copper foiling")

Copper was used in the Royal Navy ships over 200 years ago, they plated the hulls to stop barnacles sticking to them which made the ships faster in battle that out maneuvered their enemy, pity varroa did not have the same dislike

Brosville said:

for anyone wanting to try it (or to use it round pots to stop snails and slugs crawling up them), you can get 36 yards of self-adhesive copper foil (all sorts of widths, around 1/4") for around a fiver from a company supplying it for stained glass work (it's used for Tiffany style "copper foiling")

Click to expand...

The 99p shop is selling self adhesive copper strips too, for use as slug deterrents.

REDWOOD said:

Copper was used in the Royal Navy ships over 200 years ago, they plated the hulls to stop barnacles sticking to them which made the ships faster in battle that out maneuvered their enemy, pity varroa did not have the same dislike

Click to expand...

Yes, they did. I think it's to do with a chemical reaction rather than electric conductivity, although I could be wrong.

BeeJoyful said:

Yes, they did. I think it's to do with a chemical reaction rather than electric conductivity, although I could be wrong.

Click to expand...

It was to help prevent the attack of marine worms and to stop things sticking to the hulls.