Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Place a frame feeder full of sugar syrup in the hive.
Remove the lids from your hives and place soaked sponges on the hives' top bars.
Place a shallow, empty box on top of each hive.
Staple a gauze cover onto this box.
Place a tin lid on this new gauze lid. Raise this above the gauze lid by using slats of
wood. This keeps the rain out.
The night before the spraying, stuff the hives' entrance with gauze or place a mesh
across the entrances, (i.e. something that will allow air in but won't allow the bees
out).
Your bees are now prepared. If it is hot, you must keep the sponges wet by pouring
water on them, as required. As soon as the all-clear is given, remove the entrance
meshes to allow the bees to fly.
Alternative method
With this method you can leave your hives as they are: you simply cover an entire hive
with a black tent made of sacking or hessian. Make sure the edge of the tent around the
hive is secured snugly to the ground. The bees will tend not to leave the hive, and those
few that do will not be able to get back in. The only thing you have to remember is to
keep the sacking wet. This way the bees won't overheat. In research trials this method
was used with no entrance blocks, and it significantly reduced bee mortality. I've tried
it and it works well.
If your bees do suffer from spray poisoning, first make sure you have made the correct
diagnosis: the symptoms of spray poisoning look very much like some diseases. If you
are sure it is spray damage, then all you can do is hope that the queen hasn't been harmed
and that the colony will build up again. Obviously, you mustn't unite a poisoned colony
with a strong one.
