By now , we ’ve grow used to varroa mites , beehive beetles and other small pests end by our honeybee hives uninvited . But what about even declamatory ( and hairier ) vulture to our bees ? Skunks , bear and mouse , among others , can really set your apiary back .
But it does n’t needs have to be this agency .
Penn State Extension Educator Robyn Underwood has been take with apiaries and beekeeping for 27 years . “ I tell people I ’ve been keeping bees since before the twist of the century ! ” she says .
In that time , Underwood has seen plenty of honeybee depredation . And she ’s envision out how to extenuate much of it .
Midnight Snackers
“ I would say the grownup issue would beskunks , ” Underwood sound out . “ They ’re definitelythe most common . ” Night after nighttime , these nocturnal piranha mosey over to beehives , scratch at the entrances and snarf down any bee that fall out to investigate .
If leave unchecked , these predators can impose material losses to our bees .
Fortunately , the fix are comparatively simple . If your urticaria are very depleted to the ground , elevate them a couple of foot . redact them up on beehive stand or even some concrete blocks will force visiting skunks to put up up on their hind pegleg to feed . This , in turn , exposes the skunks ’ more vulnerable paunch to the beehive ’s defending workers .
Robyn Underwood
As they fly out of the beehive , some of the bees may fork up a few well - come in stings , causing the skunk to retreat .
“ My go - to is to put rug saddlery airstrip on the landing place card , ” Underwood tell . “ The awesome part about them is that they ’re super cheap , and they ’re meant to have nails that go down and nails that go up . So , you do n’t even have to bring anything but a hammer and the man of carpet tack strip . The nails are already in the Mrs. Henry Wood , and you just nail it on . ”
With the sharp rug tack strips nailed in place , any skunks attempt to itch at the landing place circuit board terminate up jab their paws .
Robyn Underwood
“ The rug tack strips do n’t stand up for more than a yr , because weather just ruin them , ” Underwood says . “ But all you require to do is get [ the skunks ] to stop and recede that habit and go find other intellectual nourishment . ”
As an surplus deterrent , some beekeeper also put carpet tack strips on the footing in front of their beehive .
Read more : Beekeeper ( and TikTok superstar ) Erika Thompson of Texas Beeworks is all about her bees .
Robyn Underwood
Honey Bears
for certain , lurch get worry . But they ’ve gotnothing on bear .
“ Bears are the most damaging , ” Underwood says . They ’ll destroy beehives to get to the dear stores and larval bee . And once they get a taste for your apiary , they ’ll be back for more .
Your estimable bet against bears ? Do n’t rent these predators get close to your bees to begin with . To that end , Underwoodrecommends erecting an electrify bear fencing . “ My bear fence [ has ] four wires , but really only the top three are generally electrify , because you ’re render to head off it getting short-circuit out byvegetation grow , ” she says .
provide you are able to keep up with the weed drubbing , you might choose to electrify the extra conducting wire as an extra crumb baulk . “ The fourth telegram at the bottom is available to be electrified , ” she say . “ You just have to snare it to the one above it with something that conducts and then you have a crushed wire that ’s live . ”Robyn Underwood
Her fence designing also includes a special kind of bait : tawdry bacon . “ People conceive of bear as , you know , you necessitate barbed wire and all this crazy stuff , ” Underwood says . “ But that ’s because you ’re in reality reckon that the electrical blow has to go through their pelt pelage . Really , what you need to do is get them to put their sensitive constituent — like their noses — on the fencing . ”
That ’s what the 1st Baron Verulam ’s for . “ Apparently , bears can really smell the electricity , ” she says . “ Once they eff what it is and that it hurts , they will take a wide berth around anything like that — and they ’ll learn their baby to do that as well . ”
For that fence design to make well , though , beekeepers must put it up preemptively .
“ Put it up if you suppose there could be a bear around , ” Underwood say . “ That fall in you the chance to learn them to stay away from beehive , rather than receive them find them , love them , need them and then [ you ] trying to keep them out .
“ That ’s much , much more difficult . In fact , I would just tell people to move their bees [ at that degree . ] ”
Messy Mice
As with bears , hold mice out of your hives is also a affair of prevention . They constellate to warm , winter hives during the fall and winter months .
“ mouse become a job when the bees set about to cluster , ” Underwood articulate . “ Because normally when they clump , there are several inches below the bee that is sort of empty . The mouse — as long as they do n’t disturb the bees — can go in and build up a nest on the bottom gameboard . ”Robyn Underwood
Building those nests means chewing on beehive framing and bringing extraneous fabric into the hive . Mice will also urinate inside the beehive , smelling up the place to such a stage that your bees may not need to stay on there in the future .
To keep mouse out , you ask a strong , strong-arm roadblock .
“ Different beekeeper do different things , but I keep my entrance reducer on with the bigger possible action — the 4 - inch opening — class - orotund , ” Underwood say . “ I never alter it unless there ’s robbing . Then I ’ll go down to the smaller one . ”
She also recommend applying ironware cloth to the front of the hive .
take more : regard bees ? Keep these thing in creative thinker .
The Birds
Of course , some predator to bee come dressed in feathers rather than pelt . shrike , kingbirds , St. Martin , swallows and kite are just some types of birds that routinely swoop by to snatch honeybees right out of the air .
Depending on how many hives you have , these fly hunter can do a surprising amount of harm .
In a 2017 post on the on-line communityBeeSource.com , apiarist Michael Gillmore had hives set up up on a farm located near a large pond . “ More than once , I would drive up to the hives to see numerous b swallows flying in a orbitual radiation diagram around the pond , ” he write . “ And as they neared the beehive , they would all go into a diving flight pattern right in front of the hives , then back up to cruise altitude around the pond again . Not certain how many there were—20 to 30 . ”
Concerned , Gillmore did the math . “ Let ’s say Ihave 30 barn swallows flying around the lake and eating a bee each time they circle in front of the hives , ” he save . “ And maybe they make 100 circuits over the course of a day . That ’s 3,000 goodish forage bees lose every day just from the snort .
“ If there ’s 10 settlement , [ the raspberry ] are n’t a big mass . But , if it ’s only two or three [ hives , ] that has to have an impact . ”
Which bees the Bronx cheer eat matter , too . According to a 2012 study appearing in theInternational Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research , the presence of bee - rust birdie lose weight the flight survival rate of virginhoneybee queens .
The authors tell that 80 pct of 30 king successfully mated when bee - eater were n’t present in the apiary . Whenbee - eaters were present , only 46.67 percent of 30 queens successfully mated .
The bee - eat on raspberry also had a chilling consequence on the activity of foraging honeybee . “ During their presence in the apiary [ bee - eating birds ] raise specific sounds that honeybee can recognize , causing them to stay in their hives , ” the authors save .
Just what did Gillmore do about those sharp-set b swallows ? He moved his urtication away from that pond . And , when it comes to these louse - predating birds , that may be just about all you could do . Keeping your queen - mate yards well away from lakes and ponds may facilitate mitigate problems with dragonflies as well .
More Information
With skyrocketing Price for pollination services , beehives — sadly — have also become increasingly tantalising targets for human thieves . To combat the problem , keep your hives as far from coarse rail line of sight as potential .
You might also want to monitor the bee house with a wireless , apparent motion - sensitive lead Cam River . Some beekeepers have also add together GPS tags to the interior of their hive . These can dissemble as theft deterrents in and of themselves .
Or , if the tagged hivesarestolen , they may be capable to be tracked and recovered .
In response to successful and would - be thieves , beekeeping radical , farmers and the lay world are working together to protect hives against human predators and prevent further thievery . In some sphere , reward money is being offer . `
And radical such as the California State Beekeepers Association have launched awareness campaigns with light guidelines we can all follow . Some of their good word for Farmer using pollination service include “ [ using ] only reputable , registered beekeepers who can show trial impression of possession of their beehives , [ encouraging ] beekeepers to distinctly mark their urtication and equipment , ” and “ [ knowing ] your beekeepers , their equipment and move - in / move out docket . ”
Whether the menace come from people , hoot or bears , prevention of predators is paramount . “ The bottom line is to be proactive — notreactive , ” says Penn State Extension Educator Robyn Underwood .
This article originally appeared in the July / August 2022 exit ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
