Deep disappointment. My bees are being overtaken by wasps. I inspected them a week ago and was alarmed by their low numbers and their overly placid behaviour. I concluded that during my summer break, they'd replaced the queen, and there had been a drop in numbers for that reason. But I was worried to see that they still hadn't begun working the super, and there were wasps entering the brood box.
To survive the coming autumn and winter I needed to start feeding them. So a few days later, having made up a batch of sugar syrup (flavoured with lemon verbena!), I returned. Bad news. Dead wasps littered the crown board, but many more live wasps were in the brood box and entering the main entrance.
I spoke to my beekeeper mentor, and he advised me to block the hive entrance completely, and leave them for 48 hours; after re-opening the entrance to a tiny bee-size gap, the bees would be more aggressive, and resume defending the entrance.
I blocked up the entrance, but couldn't bear to leave them for more than 36 hours like this, so early this morning I unblocked the entrance, leaving a small gap, and inspected quickly.
Bad news. The wasps had already managed to create a small entrance, and were entering the hive freely. Inside the brood box, the remaining bees are completely overwhelmed, living in the central brood frames, and are reacting sluggishly.
I am really worried about them. If anyone has any suggestions, please contact me via my contact page. /contact.html
To survive the coming autumn and winter I needed to start feeding them. So a few days later, having made up a batch of sugar syrup (flavoured with lemon verbena!), I returned. Bad news. Dead wasps littered the crown board, but many more live wasps were in the brood box and entering the main entrance.
I spoke to my beekeeper mentor, and he advised me to block the hive entrance completely, and leave them for 48 hours; after re-opening the entrance to a tiny bee-size gap, the bees would be more aggressive, and resume defending the entrance.
I blocked up the entrance, but couldn't bear to leave them for more than 36 hours like this, so early this morning I unblocked the entrance, leaving a small gap, and inspected quickly.
Bad news. The wasps had already managed to create a small entrance, and were entering the hive freely. Inside the brood box, the remaining bees are completely overwhelmed, living in the central brood frames, and are reacting sluggishly.
I am really worried about them. If anyone has any suggestions, please contact me via my contact page. /contact.html
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