Winter Bee Hive Maintanance

Winter Bee Hive Maintenance Tips

Baxter St. Gardener 12/13/2014

http://2sassytravelers-baxtergardener.blogspot.com/

Well I was talking with Ms. Wiggins of Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts, about seeing deadbees at the entrance to the hive.  She told me this die off is normal for the winter time.

She also told me to remove the entrance reducer and sweep out the dead bees that are inside hive on the screen of the hive bottom.  She said that when she first started keeping bees she found that the entrances to her hives were totally blocked by the bodies of dead bees that had died off during the winter.

              

I purchased a flat, .69¢ yard stick.

I marked one end of the yard stick and cut it off to making a point. 

Cut out the poi

Mark angle to cut out your point

I removed the entrance reducer

I slid the yard stick in along one side of the hive bottom, on top of the screen, to the back of the hive bottom……

...slowly sweeping the dead bees out of the bottom of the hive.  I repeated this step on the other side of the hive bottom.

 Using this .69¢ yard stick trick worked well for this winter maintenance job.

The ¼ inch hardware cloth you see on the front of the hive body is a device Mr. Mike

Credit of Mark Twain Bee Keepers Club, fabricated for me.   The openings of the hardware cloth are big enough for my bees to come and go, but small enough so wasps can’t get through.  It also serves as a mouse guard.

Removing Squash Bug Eggs

Removing

Squash Bug (Anasa tristis) Eggs

07/2014 Baxter St. Gardener

The other day I was out in the garden crushing Squash Bug eggs with my fingers and my Leatherman pliers.  That night I had a thought, “What if I were to use Duck-Tape to lift these eggs off the plant???” 

The next day I thought I would give this idea a try. I tore off about a 2 inch by 2 inch (5 cm X 5 cm) square of Duck-tape to try this.

I firmly placed the Duck-tape over the Squash Bug eggs and lifted the eggs off the plant.I found that removing the eggs off flat surfaces, like the tops of the squash leaves and stems were easy. 

Lifting the eggs off the underside of the leaves, in the crevasses along the vanes, was a little more difficult. To remove the eggs in the crevasses I found I needed to fold the tape and press it in the crevasses to lift them off.

I have done this a couple of times now and found that I don’t damage the leaves as much removing the eggs this way.  When I am finished, I just fold over the tape with the eggs stuck to it, and throw it all away.

No hatching eggs, less future Squash Bug problems and no insecticides!