Worst part of beekeeping hands down!
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- #short #beekeeping101 #honeybees #beehealth #beelover #bee #beekeep
I wish we didnʻt have to do this, but mites can wipe a whole hive out if not addressed. The only way to know is to identify what percentage of you hive has mites and this treatment is the most accurate when it comes to this test. Others may use powdered sugar or AI apps, but they just arenʻt as reliable as an alcohol mite check unfortunately. We are the last people to want to kill bees and would always prefer natural methods, but in this case sacrificing a few for the whole of the hive is a must.
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Hunter here! Thanks for all the love and comments :) We also appreciate all of you who have subscribed, like most of our videos 99% of the people who watch them arenʻt subscribed. So, if you like what you are seeing feel free to join us, cheers!
I subscribed guys🫡
@@caseylynch1993 thanks so much, we appreciate the support :)
There are other methods that don't harm bees. You can count the daily fall of dead mites on the bottom of the hive and estimate the mite population that way.
@@JonnyTheCuberthat is a method as well. Some difficulties that arise are being able to consistently get into your hive daily. We are a little more hands off and only see them a few times a month. Another reason that method lacks accuracy is because of the bees. Bees are always cleaning out their hive and could be pushing out most of the mites. I suppose if you have a screened bottom board where you have a separate bottom tray you can pull out that would help/work, but I don’t have that kind. Counting the ones that fall also relies on a healthy hive that is knocking them off and if the hive is struggling it may not keep up with them and an infestation could easily go unchecked. Those are my thoughts though, or why this method works for our situation/preferences. I also wish no bees had to die as well😊
@@hancockhaleyou are right, I got the screened bottom ;) which is absolutely standard here in germany. I don't believe you have to have a healthy hive to use this method though. You are counting mostly mites that have died from old age. I think bees that kill the mites themselves would ruin the precision of the method as the calculation involves the natural life expectancy of mites.
Better 50 bees than an entire infested colony
He said 150
@@ivanov093 oh screw the colony then
FOR THE HIVE!
@@JohnDoe-po3kucolony is gonna be bigger than that… and we’re talking about bees
@@Ikigai_Composes It's just a joke lol
Never thought id hear a "cupfull" of bees as a measurement
Haha yeah it’s a funny term, but is generally considered a measurement that holds 300 bees. Thanks to whoever counted that in the past haha
Anything but metric
@@flamingwolfxanything except that communist shit
"...and then 300 bees of milk into the saucepan..."
@@flamingwolfx sorry, its all I know
The “worst” thing is putting an aggressive hive down.
Dangerous and heartbreaking at the same time.
Yeah you are definitely right about that!
I love the smell of bananas in the morning.
If they could understand, the bees would more than likely happily get checked for mites. "For Queen and colony!"
Yes I agree, their mindset is always focused on the hive and they make sacrifices daily so it can prosper :)
That makes it even more sad 💔 the good die young? 😅
Well they may not understand but they certainly have some understanding that their home is safer even with some being killed off. Since they can sort of just leave if they ever find the bee keeper isnt good for the colony.
@@taylorjade6918 every bee would be good and young
@@taylorjade6918😢
Bees: What are you doing?
Beekeeper: Checking you for mites.
Bees: Will it hurt?
Beekeeper: .....yes.
Sadly true, although it is an instant death. Never really makes it any easier though :(
I was already quite emotional about these 150 bees, but this brought actual tears. It's like "was I a good boy?" "No, I am told you were the best."
@@hancockhale Our perception of time is different, would it actually be instant for a bee?
@lunchbox1553 it's weird when people try to apply human emotions to bugs and animals
not really, they'll get stupid drunk on alcohol then die.
I’m sure they’d be glad to know they died to ensure the safety of their hive. Rip bees :(
The most patriotic bees in the hive for sure! Love them :)
Before this day is done I will die in glorious sacrifice for the colony!!! (This is from Chrysalis so originally it was ants but it works for bees to)
@@hannahmccolm4600 it definitely works for bees, this is pretty much their mantra everyday. They are constantly putting their lives on the line for the whole of the hive :)
@@hancockhalea single bee lives for what, a month? And how many years do hives last? Forever if everything goes right. They’re essentially dying for a clinical study that will save an entire civilization. They are given a distinction that all bees strive for. Everything they did, up to and including their death, was for the hive to prosper and prolong.
@@seal8900 yes! Exactly! Their day to day life is full of sacrifice, and although their life is short, as a whole they can thrive forever :) Even without a queen the hive will collectively choose a new queen and continue to grow and prosper :)
The alcohol wash is industry standard, however if you are concerned about killing bees, a sugar shake (cup of bees and sprinkle of powdered sugar) will give similar (~97% accuracy) results. This is often good enough to determine if treatment is necessary. There's also Checkmite (which is a high concentration acaricide) that causes the mites to drop quickly without killing the bees.
Nothing wrong with the method you're using, but if it tears you up to kill a handful of bees, there are other options.
Thanks for mentioning the other methods. I havenʻt hear of the acaricide method before, Iʻll have to look into it more. My mentor has over 20 years of experience and she isnʻt a fan of the accuracy of the powdered sugar method, she said it varies too much. Thanks for sharing though :)
I knew there had to be a better way!
We used sugar powder and always had accurate data.
@nominasuntodioza2725 You know the data was accurate how? Were you using other methods to check the accuracy?
My understanding is the problem with sugar shake is the mites aren't being disturbed enough to let go of the bees.
I feel this. The worst part of any husbandry is euthanasia/destroying. In aquariums with inverts we have to soak some of them for a bit in the solution. They don't exhibit stress signs but seeing the tub throughout your tasks hits you every time
Yeah it really is hard! Any time you try to engage with nature you see the natural problems they struggle with and try your best to test and treat. Sadly that puts you in these positions where you have to take action.
Youre so right, seeing a clutch with severely deformed reptiles has always been the worst for me, good husbandry helps prevent it but it can never be avoided entirely :((
Yeah I recently had to euthanasia my favorite betta who had dropsy and was heavily pineconing (this is a later sign of organ failure that causes the scales to stick off of their body). Absolutely heartbroken. The worst part is the muscle spasms as they pass. I ended up needed to cover the container because of how bad it was. But she has a beautiful wooden casket and I'm going ti get some flowers for my girls burial soon. SIP Miss Strawberry Oreo. I love you so much
@@agereartist3763 I can't image having to euthanize without something like ms-222. That must have been really hard, I know the love hobbyists have for their fish. ❤️
@@agereartist3763I had to euthanize my betta as well for dropsy a month or so ago. It’s definitely not an easy task to do and I did cry quite a bit, but I believe that it is better to let them pass this way rather than letting the disease slowly claim them.
Bees are so badass they’re probably honored to take one for the team.
"Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice, I am willing to make..."
-Lord Farquade
Hahah glad to see some Shrek quotes finally making it to my videos :)
Second saddest part of any kind of ranching/husbandry. Just behind a stillbirth. It’s harrowing to hear an expectant mother grieve, from anything.
Someday Iʻll experience this more with animals I am sure, regardless it is an important lesson and aspect of husbandry.
Wtf?
@@Dog_gone_ityeah, stillbirths happen in many animals and it really sucks.
@@Dog_gone_it This is about farm animals. Cows, pigs, horses, sheep, etc.
They can have pregnancy complications, lose their child, and have a stillbirth (d3ad baby comes out). They will grieve their loss. Try to wake their child, call out to them, make sad noises, they'll get moody and isolate themselves.
Commenter was saying this ^^^ is the second saddest thing to the video's topic of k1lling the animals yourself.
In this case, insects.
YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!
Spare a cup of bees, neighbor?
hahaha honestly I would accept :)
Cute comment 😎🙏💔🫠
any time a neighbor asks for a cup of anything, i always ask "what are you making"
so this is no exception, what are you making with a cup of bees. 😂
@@ericolens3Honeycoooooommmbbbss
this made me audibly laugh😂
If you could talk to one of those bees, and ask her "Would you lay down your life to check for a parasite that threatens your colony?" She will say yes. Every time.
You are completely correct, although they are actually all females. And yes, they would all sacrifice their lives for the good of the colony :)
@@hancockhale Oh right! Female workers, thanks
"Anything for the queen. Anything for the colony."
@@hancockhalearen't the technically like.. Idk non binary isn't the right word, but a sterile third that couldn't ever be a queen? Couldn't EVER lay eggs or "lead" a hive?
"FOR THE COLONY"
Wait, bees have mites?! Jeez, you really do learn something new every day.
Yes, glad I could share something new :)
Little mites
have smaller mites
Upon their backs
that bite em
And those mites
have smaller mites
and so ad infinitum
I had American foul brood get into my hive a few years ago, not only did I have to close my hive and burn it, but there would have been about 15 kilos of honey in the hive at the time.
I am crying for you! So happy we donʻt have that here in Hawaii, hope we never get it! So sorry to hear that man!
@@hancockhale the varoa situation is starting to get worse in Australia. Border control kept it out for so long but it's here now and spreading like crazy. Won't be long before Australia loses its bees, like most other countries.
Today I learned that 3 bees are 1/100th of a cup
yes haha :)
This video is very professional and well done, i was shocked to see the lack of channel interaction, awesome content keep it up! Hope the well deserved attention comes flooding in soon
Thanks so much, that was such a kind comment to get😊 I’ll just keep on grinding🥰
Yeah, this channel always puts out good videos. 😊🤙🏽
@@SeanShimamotothanks so much! That’s cool to hear that people think so 😊
@@hancockhale I don’t think so, I know so. I see how much time and thought y’all put into your videos…not to mention the different and unique topics y’all cover as well. I am NOT someone who doles out compliments to make people happy…I only pay compliments to people if I genuinely feel that way, and I genuinely enjoy and appreciate y’all’s videos…as well as how much aloha you show to people, even when they make pilau comments, y’all still show aloha and humility…and during a time when it sometimes feels like the aloha spirit is fading, it’s really refreshing to see my fellow kama’aina remembering how our kupuna raised us.
Sending love and aloha from Kaimukī! 😊🤙🏽❤️🌈☀️
Needs a collaboration with @AntsCanada
The Bee from the bee movie will be there shortly
hahaha hopefully he will have learned his lesson and knows itʻs for the greater good :)
AND his lawyer.
the gritty horror sequel, sting
@@kingkitryne haha I am quaking!
Euthanbeesia! It's cruel, it's inhumane!
("But you're not humans!")
"Th-... that's not the point!!"
You can hear it in his voice >:)
I’d like to think bees of all animals can really understand and respect (in their own little bee way) the idea of “50 workers to save the Hive”. Besides, if they didn’t have you and you weren’t doing this the mites could do some serious damage!
I like to think so too, yeah mites unchecked could kill a whole hive and spread to others :(
I can recommend adding nesting for "book Scorpions" into bee boxes.
That's because they hunt the mites for shelter with the bees.
Pretty awesome friends. They also protect books and archives from bookworms and book lice.
Iʻd love to use them, but donʻt believe we have them here in Hawaii and doubt we could introduce them legally :/
What are book scorpions?
There really are book scorpions? Wow. They featured in the plot of a book I read when I was eight or nine but I always through they were as fictional as the paper monsters they were used to fight.
I’ve never done that to check for mites what I was taught is to take a sheet of white plastic signboard and slide it into the bottom of the beehive below the screened base and check it regularly
This is a method that is also used. My beekeeping mentor has over 20 years of experience and has read extensive studies on mite safety. Although she hates even seeing one bee die, she feels this method to be necessary due to its reliability and accuracy. The main downfall of the method you mentioned is the fact that the bees, especially in a healthy hive, are constantly cleaning out their hive. So all though mites may drop to the board, they may have already pushed out several and skew the results. This method also relies on the bees being healthy enough to clean mites off of themselves. By shaking in the alcohol for 60 seconds you are able to knock off all the mites on a small percentage of bees in order to gauge the health of the entire hive. At least, this is what the studies have found to be effective in monitoring mite infestations.
@@hancockhale I've actually never heard of your method, over here (at least in my part of germany) we also use the sheet method. Might I know, how big the rate of hives lost is? It would be interesting to compare that.
From what I've been seeing, mites also drop in very weak colonies, if you also compare it with how many bee's usually drop dead in that time you can guess fairly good how the situation is in there.
@@leaholle6916I don’t know all the numbers, but I know personally is this apiary/region where I live 2 people just lost entire hives to mites 😢 Out of maybe 50 hives in our area.
@@hancockhale I think the rate of hives lost throughout winter (so due to mites and husbandry issues together) is around 20-30% depending on how hard/long the winter is.
And then there's the losses from the neonicotinoids. Here in VT we're having to battle w the state.... My nephew (4th Gen commercial beekeeper) was on a public radio show about the problem w a couple other folks. Those pesticides are a huge problem.
What’s even sadder is I’ve heard of beekeepers doing their mite check and accidentally scooping up their queen 😭😭
OH MY GOSH! I would cry!! We checked and checked and checked again to make sure to avoid that, so scary though!
I'm friends with "The Bee Man" of GA. His name is BJ, and he's one of my favorite people I've ever met. I need to pay him a visit. He taught me out to pick up honeybees with my bare hands without killing them, and position it so I could sting myself (thus unfortunately killing it, in the end) for "bee sting therapy". 10/10 don't recommend, but if you are going to not doing more than two bee stings every other day. You can overload your nervous system and cause things like fibromyalgia. That's what happened to me.
I think Iʻve seen his videos, so cool! There are positives to bee stink therapy for sure, but very case specific. Hope you are okay :)
Bee #453,213: Hey where's sally?
Bee #453,000: They got selected for the mite check.
We've been measuring by having a plate at the bottom of the hive for 24h and seeing how many mites fall down on it. Doesn't involve killing any bees.
Probably misses them if they're in low numbers, but we haven't had any issues.
yeah that way could work well too, thanks for sharing. This method has been the most accurate for us :)
“I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it”
Exactly how I felt in this moment!
I've heard you can do a powdered sugar shake instead of an alcohol wash to avoid killing the bees. But I'm also a brand new beekeeper (I'll get my bees in April) so I'm still learning. Is there a reason to do an alcohol wash instead of a powdered sugar shake?
The main reason is accuracy. Powdered sugar can knock of mites, but that doesn’t man it will. This could lead to an inaccurate result and gives you a false perception of the health of your hive. Alcohol kills the mites and the bees. After shaking for one minute they fall to the bottom and can be counted. We hate killing bees, but it’s necessary to be thorough for the health of the hive😊
@@hancockhaleI’ve done a handful of sugar rolls and they have been pretty consistent; you have to roll then pound the bottom of the varoa checker; knocks a lot off and gets pretty consistent! Do you treat either oxalic acid?
@@angogabloggian2605I actually made a comment asking about this! Idk, just feel like there’s another option.. even if it only knocks out the mites, you’d have time to get rid of them. Put the bees back as if nothing happened.
@@chelseebarber3903alcohol wash is the most accurate test for varoa mites. Unless someone has discovered another accurate way to measure these mites, alcohol is the way to go
@@mattknight8215We only treat in our hives if there is an issue with the count. We try not to use anything and keep it as “natural” as beekeeping in a box can be haha. I only have 3 years of experience, but my mentor has a few decades and from her experience this is the only one that she trusts fully to accurately gauge the mite to bee ratio😊
There are these, ungodly expensive, but cool hives. There were either developed or are still in development. Basically bees have a temperature in which they can withstand and survive. Mites have one too but it is a bit lower than bees. So these hives can be made to increase to JUST under the bees threshold. This kills the Mites but leaves the bees alone.
Woah! That sounds expensive haha, but also really cool. Iʻll have to chat with my mentor about it and see if she has heard much about this! Thanks for sharing :)
When you said “saddest thing a beekeeper has to do” my mine immediately jumped to foulbrood. Thank god it’s just varroa check.
Yeah that would be the actual worst, but this is something we have to do that is sad:(
Idk if you follow paul Stament, but his company has feeders for bees that count the vistors and have a nice food mix that includes mycelium to help fortify their nests and prevent mites
Iʻve recently learned a lot of what he is doing with bees and found his website to be a bit difficult to navigate. I have feeders, but would love to get a dehydrated mycelium additive to include in my sugar water. So cool what fungi can do!
It’s an unspoken rule that beekeepers on RUclips have to sound like late night DJs.
Lol, I thought it was an unspoken rule that beekeepers on YT had to whisper haha thatʻs what I always come across. Iʻll take late night DJ though :)
I volunteer with community boxes. As the local heartless guy I do the mite checks. I prefer to sugar test a little extra frequently and if I spot something I do the alcohol test to determine treatment needs. I hate to kill any if things look good, but at first sign of trouble I'd rather trade even half a hive than lose it all.
To explain the community boxes: We keep bees at local parks near some flower gardens to keep the park pretty and also to help community veggie gardens grow healthy. The honey is sold to cover the expenses, but a good portion of the honey also goes to everyone who helps with bees or the veggies as well as the food bank. We don't seek to maximize our output so it is hardly a full-time job, really we just decided that bees as pollinators would be more useful than bees as honey production for our primary goals since manual pollination takes more manpower after a certain point compared to the bees. Then it grew out of control because swarming meant we had to keep splitting. Soon we're going to turn our spare hives over to local highschools to do agricultural science with.
Yes :)
That's awesome
I volunteered at a rescue, there was a litter of puppies with one of them being born with brain damage. It also turned out that he was suffering from a sort of bone deterioration. He was my absolute favorite, he was an angel always trying to get your attention. The day I found out he had to put down broke my heart to pieces. I am glad he didn’t have to suffer, but I cry when I think about how he wasn’t even a year old. I miss you, Bubba. ❤️
So so sad when you have to put down animals. I had a vet friend who said he loved doing euthanasia's and I was always so confused by that. But, he said holding the animal and watching them peacefully and painfully be freed from their sick bodies felt very spiritual :)
He may have had a short life but he spent it feeling loved. You made his life infinitely better by just being in it and being there for him.
Unfortunately, sometimes you have to do what's painful, so the animal doesn't have to endure the painful.
just remember people, bees often choose this life over living in the wild
they can choose to commit an exodus at any time and bee keepers can't do anything to stop them.
but, despite the occasional mite check, this life is the most prosperous for the hive
Thanks for sharing that, it is so true, they could dip at any point. Iʻm constantly trying to keep them happy, busy, and roomy so theyʻll stick around :)
I saw people do a mite check using something like powdered sugar. They shook the bees and the mites fell off. The bees all lived
This is a method you can use although you need to more consistent with them because they arenʻt as effective or accurate. We do this annually to make sure our preventative measures are working. In the case of mites we like to be thorough because an infestation can kill an entire colony.
These bees have legends of "The Culling" that comes along every now and then at random
yes haha they know the great sacrifice may come at any time!
So in the span of a year, you’re telling me I’ve only seen about 1/3rd worth of a cup o’ bees????
Yeah, probably haha! If you look into a hive someday you’ll see over 50,000 all at once😊
You can actually dump the bees into powdered sugar and that will remove the veroa mites without having to kill the bees.
I've been keeping honeybees nearly 40 years and I switched to "Hygienic Italians" about a 8 years ago. This breed of honeybees make mite treatments unnecessary; although I still loose about a quarter of my hives overwinter. However, I've been experimenting with homemade polystyrene hives for overwintering and have reduced winter losses to a mere 10%. It's almost like back in the golden age of beekeeping before mites arrived. Wildflower Meadows Apiary out of California is the source of my original queen stock.
So cool! Thanks for sharing. Iʻll mention that place to my mentor and that type of bee. It would be nice to have a queen form there to see how mite resistant they are. Donʻt really get a winter here so I donʻt know much about that, but Iʻm glad you have improved your rate, that is awesome :)
Powdered sugar works. Dump the bees in shake them up, mites can't stick to the dust, everyone returns covered in sweet goodness
Yes, I’ve used this method. We may do this throughout the year to do tests, but we still feel the necessity of one alcohol wash a year. Sadly the bees die, but the accuracy and reliability of these tests is a bit higher 😊
“hey whatcha got there?”
“oh you know. just my cup full of bees”
😅
haha it would be fun to carry around haha
never thought I would hear bees measured by volume
haha itʻs always approximate, but is standard in the beekeeping world :)
I didn't know bees could get mites! And the sadness in your voice at the end 😢❤️ thank you for being such a caring soul
yeah it sucks! I really do care for them, so sad to see them die :( Glad I could share and meet so many nice people through this video :)
It’s a good thing that bees are naturally willing to sacrifice themselves for the colony. I like to think in this case also they know that you’re taking care of them and the sacrifice is still for the good of the hive
How do you enter your house to remove the bee protection, wouldn’t they follow you inside?
Once you step away from the hive they leave you alone. Even while around the hive they aren’t on my suit or bothering me much at all. If you get lots of honey on you then they’ll definitely follow.
@@hancockhalei can attest to this. My mom dragged me to a bee farm for several years. I hate anything that flies but isnt a bird. I think I am extra sensitive to the buzzing sound it makes me spasm and feel immense paranoia that something is going to get into my ears. There were a couple bees in the honey processing shop but they stayed clinging to the windows. I felt safe enough to use the restroom where there were no bees. They prefer the outdoors
@@thaloblue yes, they really donʻt care about you, unless you are covered in honey, and even then they just have sweet tooth's and donʻt want to sting haha
Powdered sugar works too if you didn't know and it doesn't kill the bees most of the time
Yeah we were actually discussing that method while we did this one and my mentor prefers this one because of the more consistent and accurate results. Although it is important to state that we hate killing bees and would prefer not to!
If they have mites, what do you do?
You can do some other treatments to help your bees clean them off. There are also these strong vapor strips that repel them, but the bees don’t like them much either. If it’s really bad sometimes the hive just dies😢
Hey, ants have been known to use lemon or lime slices to purge themselves of mites. This is true of any ant colony that has mites regardless of species or region, even if they did not evolve near lemons, when provided with one and if they are infested they know whay to do and will use it to purge themselves of mites. Ants and bees are very taxonomically similar and evolutionary related. Next time you have a mite problem, set out some lemon slices and see if they will use them to purge mites off of themselves. Just an interesting thought and experiment. I give it a 2/3 shot at working.
I watched a video of a beekeeper that had to kill an entire hive because they had become extremely aggressive and were attacking neighbors. He was devastated.
That is devastating, I have heard that hives like that sometimes are insane honey producers though. Killing bees sucks no matter what, but burning a whole hive is really sad. Sometimes if they are super aggressive itʻs just not worth it, those genes are no bueno!
You can avoid treating for mites by letting the bees swarm and controlling the cycles along with the size of the hive.
Same as why wild beehives never needed treatment and mites are naturally at bay.
This may be true! Nature finds a way to survive, although I wouldn’t say they all naturally get by. In nature survival of the fittest always takes place. In our beekeeping position we are trying to keep bees healthy and happy so they pollinate our plants and provide us honey. In nature they may get sick and die, that has a place in the world, but as for our beekeeping we want our bees to survive even if they aren’t the “fittest.” Hope that makes sense😊
@@hancockhale I really enjoy this take on farming a lot. The “things die in the wild” argument for many things (like wildlife conservation and beekeeping) really bothers me sometimes and I don’t always have the best response to it but I like this. Same with the opposite “well they’re just fine in the wild” arguments. The parent comment didn’t imply either of these things but I think your response has given me what I need to articulate my feelings on these subjects.
@@hancockhale Good point. When breeding them for generations we prioritized good honey production above else, and probably reduced defense against mites (especially when treating annually) compared to wildlife. At the same time I have a friend in France with a NASTY angry beehive where he does not want to replace the queen. He says they defend themselves really good against mites and wasps, they are very clean and produce huge amount of honey, so he is willing to struggle handling them. He just cannot put this beehive near any population.
@@nixite1178 well thanks, I am glad it helped. Nature does itʻs thing and commercial beekeepers or farmers do their thing. I just want to farm and bee keep with nature and that means I do what I can to keep the ecosystem happy :)
@@maximusboscus oh my gosh that would be challenging, but I am glad they realized the benefits of even an aggressive hive. Let them do their thing on defense and when you need to get in there, be quick haha :)
What do the mites do to the hive and how come bees don't rid themselves of them?
Also, is honey filtered to remove dirt from it? There is no way bees only get pollen on their hairs, right? They must also carry dirt, no?
What I can say is that bees are really good and cleaning each others bodies and filtering their food. That being said not every mite can be removed when the bees are going out to collect nectar and pollen each day. The bees do their best, but if the hive is small, weak, or low on food, they likely wonʻt be able to keep up with all the cleaning. The fact that we only had one shows how strong and healthy our hive is, so far they have been able to keep up with keeping all the workers clean and mite free :)
To answer that question , the mites get into the brood (larvae) and quite literally suck their blood - preventing them from growing properly. This can cause soothing called k-wing, where the bee’s wings don’t grow out in the center, and the bee cannot fly. The female mites stick to adult bees once they leave the cells, and when the worker bees go to feed the larvae and seal off the cells, they will jump off them into the cells and lay their eggs.
The bees do try to rid themselves of them, but they’re often stuck on too well, and the bees can be too weak. Hence, we use a treatment, such as strips of formic acid, to kill the mites off (and unfortunately a good few weaker bees).
Those ladies live to serve their family. Now they have died to serve their family. Their little lives have had purpose and honor.
Yes I 100% agree :) Such admirable girls :)
So amazing to see people care so much for an animal so small🥰🥰 definitely a subscriber now💜🥰 oh plus you comment and reply 🙌 you're truly helping the world and bringing smiles to fsces everyday 💜
I know right! 😊
Wow. There’s over a thousand comments and almost every one has a response from the creator. I’ve never seen a creator so engaged with their audience. I think that’s really amazing and even tho I know nothing of bees it looks like I’m about to learn. Definitely subbing. May you, this channel and your bees prosper.
Thanks so much! I just want to build a community of people who want to learn, lift and grow together :) Welcome welcome!
Their sacrifices are not in vein, for they ensure the health and continuation of the hive
They 100% do! So glad to see they are healthy😊
Why not to use suger powder instead of killing bees?
There are two powdered sugar methods. The first is sprinkled on the bees to encourage cleaning. The second involved covering the bees and suffocating the mites/bees and then counting the mites afterwards. This isn’t quite as accurate because even if it kills the mites the bees will likely push them out of the hive to clean up and it is very difficult to accurately gauge the percentage of the hive that is infected. I’d prefer not killing them as well 😢
@@hancockhale You are most likely better qualified than me and if this is the best way you have found to maintain your hives then you should continue. That being said I found the key to the powdered sugar test is to let the bees sit undisturbed in the sugar jar for a good 5-6 min. Some mites take a little while to detach. Then give them a light sieve with the lid. Might be useful info.
Informative, humane, and purposeful. Thank you for the video, it seems to me like you care for your bees as a whole, similar to how a bee sting will kill a bee but they willingly do so to defend the colony.
Yes, absolutely! We love our bees and even when they sting us we feel sad for that bee dying when we werenʻt even a threat :(
I read an article about modern ways to keep mites in check. It mentioned having to kill some, and some new methods to avoid that. You sound like you care and that’s awesome. I’m a new sub and if I find the article I’ll post it. ❤️
Appreciate the comment and support :) Please share if you find it. We do care and would love to find an equally reliable method that doesnʻt include killing bees :)
Hey man, don't feel the worst about this, in the wild bees probably have a way lower survival rate and I'm sure you're taking perfectly good care to make sure they're happy and healthy
Thanks so much! That’s how I feel about it at the end of the day😊
I mean…. The options are:
1. Die in the rain/when it’s too cold to move and you get stuck outside
2. Become prey- get torn apart and eaten by a hornet or whatever else eats them
3.winter comes and the workers or whatever are shoved outside to die to save the hive
This is the best death a bee is going to get really. Of course now it’s your hand doing the killing not natures way. But still I believe I have some sort of point?
Beekeepers are encouraged to test their own hives for Varroa mite using the simple sugar shake (or roll) test. When the mites are dusted with pure icing sugar, the fine granules stick to their feet and they can no longer grip the surface they are clinging to.
This is definitely a common method. My mentor has a few decades of experience and she has found that method to lack consistent accurate reliable results unfortunately. To be sure we use the alcohol wall and could follow it up with a sugar roll as well.
@@hancockhaleWhile it can be less accurate, you can also do it more often since you aren't killing bees. I believe there is a time and place for both techniques.
In the UK we use the same container as you to check for mites but we use powdered sugar. This way after they have been rolled around in the sugar the bees go back to the hive and the powdered sugar is poured into a bucket of water and we can count the mites that float on the water. The bees aren’t killed and the other bees clean them up afterwards
Thanks for sharing! Pouring in the water does seem like a beneficial additional step that I havenʻt heard of yet. Although the powdered sugar method has come back in studies and our experience to be less accurate and reliable :/
Something you never hear or see about. Sorry for your loss. Tks for sharing.
Thanks for that! Itʻs important to share all sides, we learn together that way :)
It is sad, but the fact that you only have one mite indicates your excellent beekeepers, and you take very good care of your hives. Congratulations!
Thanks! We try our best. Our girls are good and strong :)
Bees sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the hive all the time. If they could talk, they would thank you and understand what you’re doing is for the best of the hive. Don’t feel bad
I hear some people using powdered sugar on honeybees. It’s supposed to weigh the mites down enough to where they will fall off and do not harm the bees. I do not own a bee colony yet but I have been researching honeybees for a long time. I understand that this method might not work for everyone. But I feel the need to share a method that might help others! Thank you for the wonderful videos!
Thanks for watching :) Iʻve heard of this method, but it lacks consistent results and we need something more reliable, hence the alcohol wash :/
BEES DON’T SMOKE!!!😔
haha ohhh barry benson! Just a little puff to keep them chilled out, it helps mask their alarm pheromones.
I want to get into bee keeping! There is a store for bee keeping supplies that opened up about 30 miles from my house. As soon as the time is right, I'm going to do it.
I highly recommend it! Such a fun hobby and you learn so much! You should try to buy local honey from vendors and see if a beekeeper will mentor you for a few months or year. Well worth the money! :)
Powdered sugar works really well for us, no dead bees
Glad that works for you, my mentor has not seen consistent reliable results from her experience so we donʻt use that method. I wish the bees didnʻt have to die either :(
Thanks for your honesty! I really enjoy learning about bee keeping. I've planted 7 rows of wildflowers around my .25 acre property to encourage the bee and butterfly populations.
The bees don't know better and die instantly. No suffering.
And in the end it's for the colony as a whole. Rough to do, but right to do and completely moral.
I feel morally there is a good cause to it otherwise I wouldnʻt do it.
Sisters of Perpetual Buzz acknowledge the sacrifice made for the colony. We all bear a responsibility, all give some and some give all.
Their memory will not be forgotten...💖
We are one 💖
We are all 💖
We are the Sisters of Perpetual Buzz❤
I love that haha the Perpetual Buzz! Love it, so true :)
Sorry for your loss bro
Given that thousands of bees already naturally die for the convenience of the hive already I doubt they'd mind it if they could understand
I like to think that they understand and would approve my actions😊
my sister's family uses formic acid in a tray that doesn't harm the bees, but all the mites release from the bees! I recommend this if you don't want to kill the girlies! :)
I know i've seen another RUclipsr do a mite test without killing them. He did something and then put a tray under the frames and counted the number of mites. What about sugaring them (shaking them in a container with some powdered sugar) instead of killing them with alcohol.
Yes, people often use powdered sugar, but the results of those tests have been found to lack accuracy and reliability. For now we use this method until technology advances a bit more :)
Thanks for the information@@hancockhale
I recently saw someone separate the mites from the sampled bees without killing the bees. They thoroughly dusted the bees with powdered sugar. The can containing the bees had an open grate on the bottom through which the bees could not pass. When the sugar is shaken off, the mites come off with it.
Yes, I know this method and would use it if it was a bit more reliable and consistent, but unfortunately the accuracy varies :/
It is sad that the bees have to loose their lives, but it would be much more devastating to have a mite infestation. The bees that die during the mite test keep the rest of the colony safe. You're doing the right thing, even if it hurts a little. ❤️
Thanks! I appreciate that! I think that is what helps me be able to do it, because it’s for a good cause for long term prosperity 😊
@@hancockhale Many more baby bees will be born in part because of those sacrifices. ❤️
Good thing that ur bees are strong and healthy. You did a great job.
Thanks, I appreciate it :) So glad they are thriving :)
It would be really awesome if in the future we could use extremely high resolution cameras with a ton of zoom and AI to look for mites.
There is actually an AI app right now, but it hasn’t perfected itself enough yet! Hopefully soon😊🙏🏽
The dedication to like and comment on all the comments is huge. Keep up the great content.
Thanks so much! Been reading lots of opinions and stories! Appreciate the support 😊
Seeing that bees all work together for the greater good of the collective hive I’m sure they’d understand this in the end
Bees scare me but i love them (from far away) and appreciate everything they do and bee culture is also fascinating
I love them and their culture too! Maybe try getting close to one some day, maybe where a suit like me and go visit a beehive with a local beekeeper. Youʻll be safe, learn a ton, and love them even more :)
@@hancockhale its in my plans! 😊
"Some of you may die but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make"
- Lord farquad and beekeepers too apparently
R.I.P. bees.
Iʻve always compared myself to the big Lord F
Used to work in a lab that checked for mites on honey bees! I always wondered how the beekeepers actually collected them to send to us. We found mites by rinsing the bees then looking at the debris under a microscope. Also worked on nosema spore counting
OR......listen carefully......YOU....JUST....TREAT ....FOR .....MITES.....If by some miracle there are No mites, IT WONT HURT YOUR BEES!!! " it's so sad to kill the bees".... YOU DON'T HAVE TO!!!!! JUST TREAT FOR MITES!!!! Problem Solved.....yw
Yes, this is an option. But, for some, like us, we’d rather not treat with chemicals at all so if there isn’t a need to treat the whole hive then they can remain natural and no further interference is necessary
God that's really sad, but its better a few bees than a whole colony
Of all the ways to check for Varroa this one seems really brutal. We have a sheet for control underneath the hive and occasionally check with powdered suger (also separating bees, covering with powdered sugar, shake, let them leave and look at whats left.) No need for alcohol or killing your bees. The varroa sheet is really effective and has helped us catch outbreaks very early. We only treat when there is more than five mites per day on the sheet and use oxal acid.
we have an apiary and we do a handful of tests. It is a brutal test, but we found more human error and more issues in consistency with those other testing methods!
You don't need kill bees to chceck varroa check. You have good item to check put inside sugar powder it's way better to check. L. I'm beekepper from Poland ❤
Hello!!! I did this too!! For science fair. My rough estimate for the bees I used was around 125-150 bees. I had 8 hives (I got them off my dad) I ran mute tests at the beginning 12 mites were the highest (I'm still shocked) and the least was 1. I used Formic Acid, Apivar, and nothing. I accidentally killed 3 hives (Formic Acid 4 pad x2, and 1 Formic acid pad) My studies showed that Apivar did the best. But I understand how difficult it is to kill the bees. But it's for the hives health!!! Good job! How do you get rid of the mites?
I've seen people do it without killing bees. Just putting down white paper or something under the hive
yes you can do that, just a bit more human error with that method
I know very little about bees, thank you for educating me👍🏽
glad I could share :)
I don't know if anyone has said it in the comments, but you can put the bees to sleep with CO2 and by shaking them for a few seconds the varroas will fall off.
I don't know if it's as effective as alcohol wash but you know very quickly when you have to treat a hive.
What we used to do is have a pan under the hives with mesh too small for the bees but big enough for the mites. So when the bees knocks the mites out they fall into the pan we have full of vegetable oil and they drown. Making it where they can not crawl back into the hive. It’s pretty effective and much less bees die this way. Plus less time of checking for mites
This is probably the other method I would go for, but to encourage a vast majority of people to do is hard for me. There can be a lot human error in this. I have pulled out lots of bottom boards and looked. There is a lot of other debris that bees knock off as well and it can be tricky to get a really good count. Thatʻs the only downfall, human error haha
@@hancockhale I guess to get a count yeah it’s not the best. We did the strips on the hives and checked to see if we can find anything in the hives itself. I do have a question for you, what do you suggest about dealing with the hive moths?
The bees 🐝: we’ve been chosen. See you on the other side brothers.
Thank you I learned something new today I had no idea about bee mites
glad I could help :)
A moment of silence for those 50 bees. They gave their lives for the security of the colony. 😔
When I was assisting with honey bee research at Michigan State University this was my job. However, we coated the bees in powdered sugar and shook them for about 30seconds before turning the jar upside over a sieve and shaking any knocked off mites into a bucket of water to count. Most of the bees were alive after this, but shaken up and covered in sugar their hive mates had to lick off. I’m still not sure if this method is more humane or not since the bees had to get shaken, but most do live.
That is cool to hear! Interesting to see the University using that method, but I guess they want to keep as many bees in their hive and it’s maybe in a more controlled environment. We have found through practice and studies that the sugar roll method is a bit less accurate and reliable.
Hi! I work at a place that keeps bees, how we check for mites we cut up card stock and rub a layer of Vaseline on it, and we lay it underneath the hive and once a week we take the cards out and replace them and then take note of how many mites are on it!
(Where we lay it the bees don’t have access to it so no bees get on it but the mites fall down on it)
We date the back of the card stock and put numbers 1-4 on it and lay it in a certain order so that when check we know what section of the hive had the most/any and the date we started the check & ended it. So that we can evaluate & do the mite treatment from that info :)!
Also the white card stock makes it easy to see the mites or any other things that fall down, vasaline makes them stick and not move
Not sure if it’s possible for you to do it that way, but just thought I’d share how we do it :)!
I appreciate the detail at which you shared it. I donʻt have a bottom board like that currently and only have availability to get into my hive about 2 times a month. Young father here living in a very expensive state, so tried and busy! I really do like this method and perhaps down the line when I can get into the hive more frequently this could be a way to go about it. My only hesitation is I feel that this relies on the bees being at a healthy enough place to knock the bees off in the first place. Is that correct? Just trying to remove all the variables as much as possible :)
Oh wow! Yeah if you are only doing it every other month that is definitely the better method. yeah you are right it does depend on the health of the hive! My boss also observes the hive to make sure it’s healthy enough to weigh in how many mites we find. We are very lucky to have an observation hive where we can have a bottom panel! But I asked and if we didn’t we’d probably have to do something similar :)!! I’m glad your hive is healthy !