# new bees



## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Got 2 five frame nucs home today after a 100 mile round trip. The people I got them from are Russian immigrants, or maybe from Ukraine. Man, wife, and 2 or 3 teen age boys. They worked the bees in tank tops and shorts, no veils.

They were using neat plastic bottom boards which had a nice feature (in addition to not rotting). The boards had a plastic entrance plug that slipped in slots. One side had bee sized holes to reduce the entrance for winter, the other side was solid to close the entrance when moving the hives. The boards also had ventilated bottoms.

What is the current recommendations for treating the bees for disease, etc? 

COWS


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Location is Western SC.

COWS


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

While the plastic bottom boards seem to be nice they will warp so there is gaps between the rail and the hives that set on them. But if that is what you like go for it.

Treatment at this stage depends on what they were treated for before you picked them up. 
If never treated I would do some Fumigilian B but your temps may be to high already to do that. Just let them go and when totally built up do a mite count and treat accordingly.

 Al


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

For the first season, my understanding is, the best treatment is observation. 
It sounds like you've got a screened bottom board, so you might have a sliding tray. If you do, you can paint it with petroleum jelly and use it to monitor for mites. If you're finding them, then you can start treating for that. 

If you want to treat for the other common ailments prophylactically, you can look at one of the feed additives with amino boosters or something similar. 

The entrance plug you describe is called an entrance reducer. It should be used at first, on the smallest opening, to give the colony a smaller entrance to defend while it builds up its numbers.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

I don't have plastic bottom boards, yet. I have plain wood ones I just made. The sides and the some of the cross pieces are oak, which is not necessarily a good thing because of weight, but I hope it will resist decay. 

Is their any way to control fire ants without using poison, which may kill bees? One beekeeper told me that fire ants would kill hive beetles in the ground under the hive.

The bees are flying nicely in and out of the hives. I plan to leave themalon for a few days.

COWS


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Screened bottom boards are a must for controlling mites. The bees groom them off and they fall through the mesh in the bottom of the hive and are not able to reattach to a bee. If the bottom board is solid the mite simply crawls back up and reattaches.

I keep fireants out of my hives by raising them up on metal hive stands and putting tractor grease around the legs. You must put a weed barrier down (like linoleum) or the ants will just use a tall bit of grass as a bridge to get above the grease. 

Fireants are good for cleaning up comb that has been attacked by small hive beetles or wax moths. Put the frame on a mound and they will kill all the larvae that are still in the comb.

Place your hives in full sun away from trees to greatly lessen the number of small hive beetles. Also, the only time I have had problems with shb in hives located in full sun is when I used the traps. Apparently the larvae can hatch out and take shelter under the trap and the space is too small for the bees to get in to remove them.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Thanks. Guess I'll have to make metal stands which should not be a problem. Also get screened bottom boards.

COWS


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