I have prepared for and selected for varroaresistance for quite some years. Last year I learned how to test a colony for VSH, a simplified method described by John Harbo, easy for everyone to use. DWV-bees on the hardboard Before
Neonics and success
Bees visit corn for pollen, period. Bees visit canola for pollen. Bees visit potatoes for pollen (Danish tests). Bees visit a lot of flowers for pollen. Bees get what the pollen is enriched with. Neonics are not good for bees.
Reading the hardboard
One of the most important parts in my management system has become a simple thin hardboard in front of the entrance. The first thing I do when I come to an apiary is going reading them. They give a lot
MT-colony conclusion
I have shared the performance of this colony which had almost a box of plastic small cell frames and natural positioning of these frames (as the uppermost broodbox). Which also had a tough experience with mice living in the bottom
First crop from the multitest colony
Last year I gave almost a whole box of plastic frames 4.95 mm cellsize with natural positioning, http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=384 This colony was a very nice colony, but needed some thymol as it came up with some wingless bees. It gave an
The queen of the wall
Five days after I hived the swarm from the wall I checked it. I placed it about three km from the wall where it originated, to help form the ”stock of the region”. It wasn’t a very big swarm, but
Waxmoth with DWV?
When making splits yesterday I saw what looked like a bigger Wax moth with crippled wings. I moved like one too, trying to run away without flying. And this one couldn’t fly at all. Is it a bigger wax moth?