Bee Health:
Bee Health is essential to keep your hives buzzing. Ensure the following:- Hygiene
- Adequate food with all the necessary vitamins and proteins - ( This is where Mineral Bee nutritional supplement comes in handy)
- Protection from disease and mites (Varroa treatment and avoiding overcrowding of apiary sites)
- Suitable temperature and moisture control
Things we can do:
- Site the hive in a sheltered sunny spot away from damp and not exposed to the prevailing wind.
- Keep surrounding shrubbery down to a reasonable level.
- Protect the hive with an entrance reducer to keep out small rodents and enable the bees to better defend their home from robbing or wasp attacks. (For really top protection from wasps install a HiveGate ...)
- Remove old frames and grubby comb. (Every 3-5 years is a suggestion) and clean debris from floor of hive.
- Use a top feeder or entrance feeders over winter so you resist the temptation to open up the hive unnecessarily in increment weather.
6L frame-feeder with ladders and cap
$10.00
Hive World’s 6 litre Frame Feeder with Ladders and Cap is the professional way to feed your bees.
This quality plastic feeder sits inside the hive so lessens the likelihood of robbing. It is easy to fill and holds up to 6 litres of sugar syrup. The cap and ladders are easily removed for cleaning and are sealed to prevent the bees making burr comb in the feeder or the queen laying brood inside.
The textured walls give the option of using this feeder without the cap and ladders.
The feeder measures 90mm x 230mm deep.APIVAR Varroa treatment
$32.70 – $66.87
APIVAR Varroa treatment (like Apitraz) is the reciprocal treatment for Bayvarol varroa treatment. These two products are designed to be used alternatively each six months to prevent resistance building up in the varroa mite.
Hive World sells this in either multiples of 1 x 12 strip pack or 1 x 4strip packs for your convenience.
It is now recognised practice to use multiple treatment types over the whole season to ensure you keep your varroa level under control.
Bayvarol packet of 4 strips
$13.91 – $60.44
Bayvarol for varroa treatment .
Each foil packet contains 4 strips – this is enough to treat 1 brood box.
Easy and safe to use – simply inset between frames in brood box.
Leave in hive for 6 – 8 weeks to provide maximum effectiveness.
Best used in summer after honey harvest but can be used any time if there are severe infestations of mites.
Active ingredient is Flumetherin 3.6mg per strip.
Dry Wall Shim for oxalic treatment x 300
$30.44
Dry Wall Shim for use with oxalic/glycerine mixture for treatment of varroa mites.
See link below to a study done in Argentina on the use of oxalic/glycerine treatments –https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-015-0405-7
Entrance Feeder with Tumbler
$5.20
Hive World’s Entrance Feeder with Tumbler (also known as the Boardman feeder) is a good solution for using with your nucs.
It comes complete with cage protector to prevent bees drowning in the syrup and 1 x 450 mls capacity beaker. The advantage of these feeders is that the amount of syrup remaining is easily seen without disturbing the hive. One thing to watch out for is that the entrance feeder can attract robbers. However, as in all things bee, every beekeeper has their own way of working and this is simply one of several equally suitable ways of feeding – each with pros and cons.
Formic Pro
$35.83
Formic Pro is an approved organic treatment for using against varroa mite. Formic Pro is made from all natural RAW materials. Used for over 30 years without any known resistance. High efficacy rate (83-97%) targets mites where they reproduce – under the brood cap.
Available in a 2xdose pack that works in only seven days.
Full Depth feeder 3 litre with lid and cage
$8.70
Hive World’s Full Depth 3L frame feeder with lid and cages (otherwise known as a Division Board Feeder) is a perfect solution for in-hive feeding.
The lid keeps the syrup clean and cages minimise bees drowning and prevent propolising up the interior of the feeder.
Note – these feeders are 52 mm wide so will still fit in a super with 9 x 33mm frames but only 3 frames in a nuc box.
Customer comment – “You have a good business, great service and I love the feeders.”
HiveGate
$20.00
HiveGate is an investment in the health of your hive. This entrance adaptor enables your colonies to maintain a healthy environment and cope with intruders such as wasps even in cold weather or when the colony is not up to full strength.
Helps promote strong, productive colonies with fewer losses as the bees spend less energy defending the hive and controlling the environment.
Plastic Handle Capping Scratcher
$6.10
Hive World’s Plastic Handle Capping Scratcher is a durable tool with a molded plastic handle to comfortably fit your hand. The metal tines easily scratch away the honey cells ready for extracting. Ideal for using with manuka honey as the action of the tines helps liquefy the thick honey to help it to flow easier.
This tool is also useful for checking for varroa in your drone brood by pushing into the capped cells and lifting out the white larvae – easy to see any mites.
Portable Entrance Feeders to use with Bottle
$2.95
Hive World’s Portable Entrance Feeder for external feeding through the entrance.
This is a simple, quick to use method for effective feeding without having to open the hive lid. All you need is a soft drink bottle to screw into the feeder and your bees can help themselves. It is easy to see how much the bees have taken without disturbing the hive.
This is also a safe and effective way to provide water for your bees in times of drought.
Be aware that you need to watch out for robbing when using this method to feed sugar syrup because it is accessible from outside the hive.
Stainless steel varroa mesh
$10.00
Hive World supplies stainless steel varroa mesh cut to size to fit your hive base.
Measurement: 330mm x 370mm.
8 (2.5mm) mesh size
Varroa mesh assists your varroa elimination by allowing varroa removed by bees self-grooming to fall through but preventing them from climbing back into the hive. Allows you to check the varroa fall regularly and ensure your current treatment is having the optimal effect.
Sublimox APF-Plus
$760.87
The Sublimox APF-Plus is an oxalic acid sublimator, otherwise known as an oxalic acid vaporiser. This is the professional way to treat varroa with oxalic acid as it is so fast and easy to use. In the past, oxalic treatment methods have been too tedious and time-consuming which has limited its viability for commercial operators.
The Sublimox APF-Plus overcomes this problem with a treatment time of 25 seconds per hive and easy replacement of caps with reliable temperature control to ensure constant readiness. This means you can go through your apiary, treating the hives without interruption.
As varroa becomes more resistant to common treatments in current usage, more beekeepers are turning to proven organic treatments such as oxalic acid that don’t lose their effectiveness over time.
This device is built to CE standards and has a 12 month warranty. It has been tested and used by hundreds of beekeepers worldwide.
As the unit only draws 300 watts, it can be run off a small inverter (available from Repco or Supercheap) otherwise a small inverter generator can be used. Comes with complete instructions for use.
Testimonial: “Probably the best sublimator in the world … in terms of speed, convenience and ease of use I’d argue that the Sublimox is hard to beat.” The Apiarist, U.K.
Testimonial: “Used the Sublimox this weekend, so easy to use we should of got these years ago”. B.I. NZ Beekeeper
See the video https://youtu.be/gRhL5T6yr24
For more information see our blog https://www.hiveworld.co.nz/sublimox-apf-plus/