Bees are tough to raise

[babsbag]

I didn't know either until this year. They are actually yellow jackets and we also call them meat bees and this year they have been a real nasty problem in the barn. They are in the dog food all of the time, and the water troughs. Poor Mia has been bitten more than once. I was told that I should have put out traps in the spring to catch the queens, I didn't know that either but they have never been a problem in past years.

I am just sick about the bees and I can't find any real solution for this time of year, everything says to trap them in the spring. All I can do is shut the entrance into the hive to allow one bee at a time and hope that the guard bees are strong enough to do their job. It is so disheartening to tend the hives all summer to have this happen and to feel totally helpless. These bees are "my girls" and I feel responsible for them.

 

[Baymule]

Sure you feel responsible for them. They are not just "bugs", they are yours just like your goats, poultry and dogs are your babies. I hate that this has happened to you.

 

[Mini Horses]

Wow, I never knew that about the hornets. I am so, so sorry. Not only did you lose your girls, you lost all the honey they made for you.

I never liked hornets or wasps

 

[Baymule]

Yellow jackets nest in the ground. Skunks will rip out the nest and eat them. Go skunks!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Bees rob each other? Gee, sounds just like people!

Yep, they are opportunistic hoarders.

I lost the hive. I went in and checked it today and there is no honey, no queen, no brood, nothing. But I now think that is was hornets that started the carnage and a robbing band of bees finished it off. I am fighting hornets everywhere, it is horrid. They will go into the hive and kill the bees, eat the brood, and then take the honey for dessert. I have closed all the entrances down to two bee widths and will be shutting them down more tomorrow. It is really sad to watch this; I am really upset. I will be hanging some hornet traps but I am just worried that it is too late.

I'm sorry you lost the hive. I had a terrible yellow jacket problem last year. This year (so far) they seem to be fending them off. I need to go add syrup to my hives today and put the hives back in normal arrangement before the rain next weekend. I had rearranged the inner cover for mite treatment, and now I need to put it back to normal.

 

[babsbag]

I lost another hive. Nothing but dead bees and the beginning of stripped out comb. At least this time I got the honey and not the stupid yellow jackets but that doesn't bring back the hive. I took three frames of honey and gave it to another hive that is low in stores. I have yet another hive that is actively under attack and I locked them in and the yellow jackets out. Both of these hives are small and didn't see a queen in either of them but I will look again when they aren't under siege. I may end up combining them for the winter. I have one very large hive that so far is ok. They have a deep full of honey, a deep with some brood (not much) and more honey, and a deep full of pollen. WOW. They have been busy. And I took a super of honey from them. I will be treating them from mites tomorrow and praying the yellow jackets leave them alone.

Bees are a tough hobby.

 

[Baymule]

I had no idea. Nature can be cruel.

 

[NH homesteader]

Oh no! So sorry!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Babs,

So sorry to hear about these ruthless attackers! We had a major problem with them last year...it was the worst I have ever seen in my life. Hundreds of them would literally hang out at the apiary and two of them would team up and then carry off a single bee, just like those flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz carrying of Dorthy and Toto. But these yellow jacket subterranean wasps were incredibly effective with team work and they would carry off hundreds of bees per day. It was comical at first, but then I realized they were doing tremendous damage to the bee population.

I did lots of reading, research, asking, etc. Here is what I discovered:

1. They are called yellow jacket subterranean wasps.
2. They build their nests in the ground.
3. They can both sting and bite [I unknowingly plowed a massive nest and received 25+ stings in the head, back of neck, and face. The bites go away in a few minutes. The stings, weeks.
4. Their stings really hurt for many days and puss continued to ooze out of the stings on my head for 2 weeks.
5. Their nests can be easily found and exterminated.
6. The Sacramento/Yolo county mosquito vector control sent out a team and did it for free for us [their number is Phone 800-429-1022 (7:00am-3:30pm Monday-Friday)].
7. There is a specific chemical poison that is applied into the nest in dust form and it is absolutely deadly to these yellow jacket subterranean wasps. I cannot remember the name of the chemical but I believe it is readily available too.
8. Last year at this time, if we tried to eat meat from a barbecue outside, we would literally be attacked by anywhere from 100-200 of these yellow jacket subterranean wasps. It was a major battle just to eat one bite of a steak! This year, we rarely see any of them. So the extermination process was incredibly effective.
9. You can also make a super simple trap by placing oil that was used to fry meat or fish in an open container outdoors [we would find 100-200 yellow jacket subterranean wasps per day in these traps at the height of their invasion].
10. The team that came out from the county did this to search and destroy the yellow jacket subterranean wasps nests:

a. Arrive early in the morning.
b. Position themselves low to the ground then look for the flight paths.
c. Follow the flight paths until they discovered the nest.
d. Dust the nest.
e. End of the yellow jacket subterranean wasps nests and end of their story!

Hope this helps!

Soar

PS There were far too many wasps and nests to kill on an individual basis using the traps. I am posting pics of the traps we used last year and please realize, this was after only one day of use! Crazy indeed!

Oh, I did use a few thousand of the yellow jacket subterranean wasps to do a sort of anger management class...

I would place a freshly cooked piece of meat on a table outside, then grab a fly swatter. I was able to kill approximately 50-100 wasps every 5-10 minutes. It was a great way to redirect my anger into a more productive direction and I became the best ever at killing flying insects with a fly swatter. It really improved my game! I think my record was 7 dead wasps with one swat! But in all honesty, I didn't even make a dent in the overall population of these monsters! Needed the county for help on this project!

 

[babsbag]

Thanks for the tips, I might call our mosquito abatement people and see if they offer any services like that. I read that the nests could be up to 1000' away...is that true? I have been trying to watch where they go, but no luck yet. I have 4 traps out, with another 3 going out tomorrow. I HATE those stupid insects.

I have one hive under total lock down, I may let them out tomorrow, or maybe not. I have another huge hive fighting for their lives and a third small hive that seems totally fine, don't ask me why. This makes me sick.

I have a question about bees if anyone has any ideas. I have hive parts from two failed hives that I have been trying to remove from the vicinity so I don't encourage robbing. I disassembled the hives and gave some honey to another hive and took some honey and put it in a crate and was going to have DH help me carry it to the house tonight. Last night I stuck some frames in plastic bags and the plan was to freeze them and store them for next year. There were bees all over everything today and I was hoping to collect the empty frames and boxes tonight when the bees went home. Well they didn't go home. The empty frames and boxes are covered with bees even tonight. I could even hear them in the plastic bags so I opened one up and there is a mess of bees in the bag. I put the frames in there in the dark last night so I guess there were bees or else they found a hole in the bag. The box of honey is covered and the lid was not on tight so they are inside the box too.

So do you think these are remnants of the hives? Should I just brush the bees off and stick the frames in a crate and let them find a new home or should I reassemble the hive and see if they move back in? I could take frames from both hives and combine them. I could even buy them a queen and feed like like the dickens. Thoughts?