Pesticides? I don't think so.

6/25/2015

It's been asked if we use pesticides in our hives. The answer is absolutely not! We do not use chemicals in or or around the hives, let alone on our property. We are very particular about what we use so that the bees are not exposed to anything harmful. In particular, when we treat problems in the hive it's with natural methods. For example, to treat for varroa mites we simply use powdered sugar. This is such a simple technique.

Powdered Sugar Varroa Mite Treatment

Tools:
Sifter (plain ol' kitchen sifter)
Powdered Sugar

Fill the sifter with powdered sugar. Open the hive. Sift sugar over the top of the hive so that it covers the bees. The sugar sticks to the bees, the mites fall off and can't re-enter the hive.

Voila! A simple, economical and pesticide-free way to manage your hive.

3 Comments

Patricia wyman

6/25/2015 12:43:46 am

What should a homeowner do when the bee company hired to remove and rehome a hive on the home, instead takes the queen and kills the other thousands of bees?

Meredith Duke link

6/25/2015 02:48:39 am

Hi, Patricia. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do. I'm surprised that the contractor kept the queen and killed the bees. Usually they'll take everything. If there's honey (and pesticides have not been used to treat the hive at any time), they'll often leave the honey for the homeowner and remove the bees. Sometimes contractors kill the bees if they are considered a "hot" hive (meaning that they are partially killer bees and very aggressive). But, the queen sets the tone of the hive (very similar to the saying, If mama ain't happy, the nobody's happy). If she was an aggressive queen she'd typically have an aggressive hive. It's hard to say why the contractor did what he did. The chance you run now is another hive taking up residence in the one that was just removed, depending on the chemicals used to remove the bees. I do know that sometimes you can't save the bees, although you'd like to.

George Day link

10/13/2022 09:43:49 am

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Pesticides? I don't think so.

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