Top Bar Beekeeping Forum

[Gary]

Heres what I am tyrying to tell you put the yellow excrement out of your mind I have seen many a bee drop into the grass to relieve themselves from the heavier loads and have had my truck windsheild covered in the stuff from the airial release fo the same when the flight path to the nectar source of choice passed over the driveway.

DO A MITE COUNT there are dozens of nasty viruses passed on from the mite bite!
_________________
Gary
www.hirschbachapiary.com
gary@hirschbachapiary.com

With being at the top of the food chain comes the responsibility of protecting it! Not the right to destroy it.

Procrastination is the assassination of inspiration!

[Hartley]

Thanks Gary.

I did a mite count just last week. I hung a wood bottom board with sticky paper on it under my screened bottom with a screen over top of the sticky board to keep bees from sticking to it (correct size of holes in screen) and left it there for four days. Checked the sticky paper, even took a magnifying glass to little dark looking things on the paper and there were no mites. I was carefull and methodical in checking the whole sticky board. Lots of small bits of pollen, wax, etc. but not one mite. This is the third sticky board test I've done this summer and I have had no mites in any counts. Either I am very fortunate or very blind when trying to find mites.

David

[Gary]

WOW That is amazing! in any case just keep an eye on them they should be able to handel it on thier own especially when ther is no stress from mites!
_________________
Gary
www.hirschbachapiary.com
gary@hirschbachapiary.com

With being at the top of the food chain comes the responsibility of protecting it! Not the right to destroy it.

Procrastination is the assassination of inspiration!

[Hartley]

Well, I guess I'll keep beating this dead horse ...

After the rain from TS Hanna passed this afternoon and the sun came out I went and checked the bees. They were flying in and out foraging big time. But there were also, once again, about 100 or more bees on the ground with a lot of the yellow mustard defecation around them.

I'm starting to grow used to this and unless I see signs of very bad things happening I'll learn to live with it, but I've still not heard from anyone who has seen this happen with their hives so it does worry me. I know Gary said he has seen lots of yellow defecation on his car, etc. but no one has said: "oh yeah, this is a natural part of their habits at this time of year", so I am still worried.

Here are some photos of what it looks like. If anyone has seen their bees acting this way I'd love to hear about it.







[img][/img]

[Norm]

Looks like a mild form of dysentery caused by something they are eating. You say the hives and combs are still clean so they are still managing whatever it is that is causing it by defacating outside the hive. This will probably clear up just as quickly as it started as soon as they finish whatever it is they are eating. Is there any rotting fruit anywhere nearby? Keep a close eye on it should it get worse.
_________________
Feral bees are natures survivors and have, by the survival of the fittest principle, overcome disease and mite problems without mans intervention.

[Gary]

Tes that is loose and would qualify as a mild case of the runs it will clear up start feeding to change sources and keep it fresh everyday.
_________________
Gary
www.hirschbachapiary.com
gary@hirschbachapiary.com

With being at the top of the food chain comes the responsibility of protecting it! Not the right to destroy it.

Procrastination is the assassination of inspiration!

[biobee]

It looks more serious than that to me, especially as it seems to be persistent.
See if you can get some clues where they are feeding, by bee-lining if possible. I think they may have found something sweet but mildly toxic to feed on - rotting fruit, perhaps?
_________________
The Barefoot Beekeeper www.biobees.com

[Gary]

AND add a feeder to change the source ASAP
_________________
Gary
www.hirschbachapiary.com
gary@hirschbachapiary.com

With being at the top of the food chain comes the responsibility of protecting it! Not the right to destroy it.

Procrastination is the assassination of inspiration!

[Hartley]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I put a follower board feeder on two days ago with a quart jar of syrup. 1 to 1 ratio. I checked it today and it was empty. I filled up the jar and put it back. I'll check it daily from now on.

***I mixed up a heavier ratio of sugar syrup: 2 to 1 for feeding from now on. My 2 to 1 mixture is: 1 and 1/4 quarts water to 4 cups sugar. Does this sound correct? (I'm bad at metric conversions)***

This afternoon there were many bees, once again, outside the hive on the ground. I'm somewhat at my wits end as to what else to do. It does sound like they have gotten into something bad to eat. I'm in an urban city where there could be rotting fruit or other bad food sources and it could be anywhere.

Phil, you mentioned trying to find out where they are getting their food source by BEE LINING. What is this, I've never heard the term? I'm guessing you watch a few bees leave the hive and follow them up and out to figure out what direction they are going to forage? And then start walking until you find them feeding? Could be difficult in the city.

David

[charker]

That sounds a bit thin for a feeding syrup. I just made some 2:1 syrup for my bees and it is 1 lb sugar to 1 cup water.

From Michael Bush: (http://bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm)

[Norm]

Here's what I do for strong syrup. Take a large plastic bowl and empty a 2 kilo bag of white granulated sugar into it completely. Measure 1 litre of water and put it into an empty kettle. Boil and pour into bowl. Stir until dissolved. Cool to room temperature.
_________________
Feral bees are natures survivors and have, by the survival of the fittest principle, overcome disease and mite problems without mans intervention.

[Gary]

I learned this from Mike Bush also and I use any container I can get my hands on just measure the sugar first then the water. 1 container to 1 or 2 containers sugar to one container of water it's that simple!
_________________
Gary
www.hirschbachapiary.com
gary@hirschbachapiary.com

With being at the top of the food chain comes the responsibility of protecting it! Not the right to destroy it.

Procrastination is the assassination of inspiration!

[Hartley]

It's now been a week since this problem of bees on the ground defecating a mustard yellow substance began. Yesterday I delivered a package of dead and dying bees to the State Apiarist. He said he would examine them under a microscope for Nosema and also Tracheal Mites and get back to me by this morning. I'm still waiting to hear from him.

I'm still finding upwards of one hundred bees a day dead and dying on the ground. There doesn't appear to be quite as much excrement but there is still some. The hive appears to be somewhat thinning out in the number of bees on the comb during the day. The inside of the hive is still clean.

I purchased Fumagilin-B and started feeding a 2 to 1 sugar syrup with the antibiotic this morning. I had been feeding 1 to 1 sugar syrup without medication for the past week. I wanted to stay away from using an antibiotic but I feel that I have the choice of either medicating at this point and hoping it will work or watching them slowly die out this fall.

***QUESTION: I have a screened open bottom on the TBH right now. The nights are getting somewhat cooler, 59 degrees F. to 64 degrees F. I'm wondering if I should attach my wooden bottom board under the screen to help keep the internal temperature in the hive at a more constant reading. There would still be ventilation as the bottom board does not fit snug to the bottom.***

I'll let you know what the results of the Apiarist dissection of the bees is as soon as I hear back from him.

David

[biobee]

[biobee]

Any further developments?

http://tinyurl.com/beelining
_________________
The Barefoot Beekeeper www.biobees.com