Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[Barbara]

Just so that you guys don't think that my beekeeping is all plain sailing, I have to report that I'm having a huge outbreak of dysentery in my apiary at the moment with several hives severely splattered with English mustard coloured poop. Wondering if it is related to something they are foraging....I know dark honey, like honeydew, can trigger it.... especially as the weather has turned cooler or if it is being caused by something more sinister, like nosema. The fact that several hives have all developed it simultaneously suggests it's more likely to be something they are foraging.
Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing similar problems and if they have identified a possible cause?
It's too cold and therefore counter productive to open the hives up for an inspection, so I'm just observing at the moment, but it is pretty disconcerting to see so much!

There's one thing for sure, I won't be able to hang any washing out on the line for the foreseeable future!!

[luk_lak]

Sorry to hear that. It looks bad things happen even to the best of us

The weather is bad, few hot and sunny days but mostly rainy and gloomy. You have poo flying all over the place. I still don't have any swarm available in my area

[Barbara]

Thanks for the sympathetic reply.
My bees are very used to the vagaries of the British weather, so I don't think that in itself is the problem. I am worried that local agriculture may have something to do with it. Until recently there was very little within range but I'm pretty sure there is some OSR a little closer than I would like this year and lots of yellow pollen coming in, although I doubt OSR in itself would cause this problem, I worry about what it may be getting treated with.

Sorry to hear you have not been lucky in getting a swarm yet but don't despair. It is only 1st of June, so plenty of time yet. If you lived closer I would happily have put you on my swarm list.
I've only had 4 so far from my hives (and helped catch another 2) so assuming they recover from this, I should be getting several more yet, although I do still have a few people on my list.

Keeping fingers crossed this is just a temporary state of affairs and nothing to panic too much about.

[Ollie]

Hi Barbara

thumbs up to you yourself for sharing this with us. It shows us new bees that not even the experts allways have success, though I certainly wouldn't have wished it on you as you always give us such encouragement and good advice. Mine had a bout of it the other week and I was worried but in days of it appearing it disappeared so I really hope it is the same with you. Hope your bees don't suffer and you don't loose any from this. Its worrying what chemicals are being spread on crops/land and the affects it has on wildlife as a whole and the end result is we humans have to eat this sh***e. We in Ireland are having fabulous weather for a change and the bees really are taking advantage of it, how ever like luk-lak no swarms here either. I have increased my numbers though from 2 to 5 which I'm delighted about by making a split and by making to nucs up which have already been transferred to full hives.

wishing you well and your bees good health....

Ollie

[Barbara]

Hi Graeme and thanks for good wishes

It's helpful to know that your bees have recently experienced a similar problem, albeit perhaps on a smaller scale.
After a very cool drizzly day, the sun has just come out and all hives are buzzing with activity at the moment so I'm not too despondent. I've also seen a few drones with deformed wing virus this past week but again, I'm not too worried about that these days as this has happened before without it becoming a problem and I learned my lesson a couple of years ago by interfering when it wasn't necessary. There were also some drone pupae evicted which may indicate hygienic behaviour or perhaps the hive is unable to sustain the current drone population.
Masses of flowers blooming and the hedgerows smell so sweet at the moment that there should be plenty of forage for them even if it is limited for most of the day by the weather.
Are you still wanting a swarm if you have split hives and made up nucs? I have a National hive here belonging to someone else, that threw a prime swarm on Saturday and I really need to split that into nucs to prevent any further swarms. Perhaps a job for Friday or Saturaday when the weather is forecast to be warmer and hope I'm not too late!

[Tavascarow]

Sycamore (& most others in the acer family) are known for producing a lot of honeydew.
The sycamore here is in flower & the bees are buzzing.
I suspect yours have found a source & got a taste for it.
_________________
Don't worry
Bee happy.
Member of Cornwall Natural Beekeepers
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Natural_Beekeeping/index.php?showforum=4
http://www.fotothing.com/Tavascarow

[mefgbee]

Hi Barbara,

Sorry to hear about your bees. Up until a few weeks ago my two hives seemed to be pooping everywhere. Making a right mess all over their hives! This has now stopped and I didn't do anything in particular, they just sorted themselves out. I think it's been a lot colder up your way recently than down here, so maybe warmer weather will bing a stop to it?

Hope it works out ok,

Mike