Bee gym

I was given one for Christmas when's the best time to put it in?

whoosling said:

I was given one for Christmas when's the best time to put it in?

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As it has to go on the hive floor then not until you can open them up to get to the floor without disturbing them ... first full inspection in spring I would suggest. I've got one in my Long Hive and I'm putting them in my other hives come spring.

Do they work?

domino said:

Do they work?

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There is some info about it here, cheap at £15 each.

http://www.beegym.co.uk/index.html

I notice the empty space in the middle, and thought that maybe a small trampoline would fit in there.

Wouldn't a queen excluder do the same job??

Feel free to put me straight.

I have a nice range of tortoiseshell bee combs if anyone is interested - £2.50 each, special spring offer - buy one get an additional two for a fiver.
I am awaiting a shipment of this season's beeotards and woolen leg warmers.

Canary Honey said:

Wouldn't a queen excluder do the same job??

Feel free to put me straight.

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dont think so, but a twig from a blackthorn bush might work ,that's if a bee gym works

Hivemaker. said:

There is some info about it here, cheap at £15 each.

http://www.beegym.co.uk/index.html

I notice the empty space in the middle, and thought that maybe a small trampoline would fit in there.

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Are there any studies that show the benefits? I don't really have enough hives to make a comparative study.

I like stuff like this so I'm just curious.

Well ... I've had one in my long hive all last season as a trial .. it's always been a colony with a low count and during the season I check the inspection boards on a daily basis - they stay in all year round but they are about 3" below the mesh floor and semi enclosed.

What I've noticed is that when there are any dead varroa on the inspection board the majority appear to be in the vicinity of the bee gym. I can see the outline of the bee gym in the general debris and so I know exactly where it is on the mesh floor. What was interesting was that the bees demolished one of the tapes and subsequently removed it from the hive - initially I wondered what the hell they had dragged out ! The latest ones Stuart has modified and when it's warm enough to mess about I will replace the strip they have destroyed with one of his new ones .. just slip onto the existing pegs.

So .. does it work ? .. As a Prime anti-varroa treatment I don't think I could fully rely on it but it meets my 'non invasive' principles and it certainly does not do any harm having it in there ... I will be watching the boards again this season and I hope to have bee gyms in the two poly hives as well so ask me again in about 9 months ...

domino said:

I like stuff like this so I'm just curious.

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So do I, maybe worth going in for manufacturing something similar, people seem to like buying them.

Heres a quick question.

IF someone uses a pollen trap on a regular basis would this also remove mites as they enter or leave the hive through it?

dpearce4 said:

Heres a quick question.

IF someone uses a pollen trap on a regular basis would this also remove mites as they enter or leave the hive through it?

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Some, almost certainly, but not enough to scratch the surface, most phoretic varroa are on younger bees who don't do much in and outing.

mbc said:

younger bees who don't do much in and outing.

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Unlike the younger members of our race

Thanks, I did mean to add do people think they work, seems worth a go then.