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Problems with wasps/bees/hornets on the bluebird trail (Part 3)In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: Predators and Problems On The Bluebird Trail From: AmyEMcCrac"at"aol.com This has been a sad spring for our bluebirds. A pair successfully raised a brood earlier in the spring and then a domestic cat got the male. The female was pregnant so she built a nest in our purple martin box and she and her 2 fledges hung around. Today we found a fledge dead on the martin box and found her dead below our birdbath. My question is this: There was a large hornet's nest also in the purple martin house. What did she and her fledge die of - could it have been bee stings or is that unlikely. They both died within 2-3 days of each other. Help and thank you. Steve From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com
Steve, I have never seen a hornets' nest in a birdhouse, here where I am, but wasps' nests are very common, and are easily dealt with. I can see why the task might be trickier in a Martin house, however, unless it is built to open easily on all sides. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com
There is an article in the Winter 2002 publication of the Journal of the North American Bluebird Society about a person that found Yellowjackets feeding on dead nestlings. This person felt the yellowjackets stung the nestlings to death and then feasted on their carcasses and stated it was a first in twenty years of experience. This is what the editor had to say about the article: "A search of various web sites produced this information on the feeding of yellowjackets: In late summer and fall, when colonies are at their peak, these insects become pestiferous. In their search for protein and carbohydrate sources, they are attracted to counters, and playgrounds, where they scavenge for food. Worker yellowjackets progressively feed larvae a diet of masticated flesh of adult and immature insects, other arthropods, and fresh carrion. It also should be noted that yellowjackets will attack threats or intrusions vigorously. Having no barbs on their stingers, a single insect can sting multiple times." Evelyn Cooper Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2002 23:20:23 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. With the last season behind us and several months before the next, this is the time to find solutions to unsolved problems. For example, swarms of honeybees move into boxes on my trail each year. Last season, a clutch of western blues died when a swarm moved in and I'm not sure if they were actually stung to death or whether they starved because the parents couldn't get to them through the swarm. The bluebird parents were still protecting the box when I found the swarm and they watched as I removed the dead nestlings. Polyester batting on the ceilings has considerably reduced the problem, but that particular swarm was tearing the batting off the ceiling and building from the ceiling edges. Other swarms have built comb from the vertical sides of the boxes while clearing off the polyester from the ceiling (see photo at: http://home.earthlink.net/~lviolett/troubleshoot.html ). Another built comb on the *outside* of the box by utilizing the underside of the roof overhang. I believe the bees use their mandibles to chew off and clean out the polyester and any other surfaces where they attach their comb. A couple of weeks ago, in addition to the polyester ceilings, I've been making a paste of insecticide (Sevin) and silicone caulking and then smearing it at the ceiling edges and a few streaks down the sides. The insecticide is imbedded in the silicone (non friable) and shouldn't be harmful to birds--it should only be toxic if chewed/ingested. However, I'm not comfortable with the idea so I purchased a non-toxic natural/herbal bee deterrent that smells like almond extract (and, in fact, bee books list almond extract as a substance bees don't like). The non-toxic deterrent is being mixed in silicone caulk as a cover over the toxic silicone smears. Two new boxes have been completely sealed in the non-toxic silicone blend and will be put where multiple swarms have come in and more can be expected. Ceiling ribbons have been tied to the inside of boxes because it is said this will deter bees. I've purchased bee lures for decoy boxes; but those are rather expensive and only last 3 months so the lures won't be activated until April/May/June. If anyone has better solutions, please let me know. This is a question I pose to the List periodically in the hopes that someone will step forward with an answer. The polyester ceilings have *significantly* reduced the number of swarms of my trail--but I'm looking for backup deterrents for the few swarms that are getting around the polyester. Africanized bees and their hybrids have arrived in Orange County. Our local beekeeper had been asked to remove a swarm that settled in a tree about 30 feet high at a cultural center a few weeks ago. This particular beekeeper is *very* experienced and the city provided a truck with a man lift to get him in proximity of the swarm. However, the swarm was so vicious that the fire department had to be called in to foam/kill it. It is only a matter of time when one of these nasty swarms will find the boxes on my trail. The city where I've got my main trail understands that each swarm that chooses a nestbox, is a swarm it doesn't have to worry about. Park personnel have watched swarms go from their public property/buildings to my nestboxes and know that I'll find it in short order and arrange to have it removed. But another local monitor had multiple swarms come into a park and the ranger warned him that the nestboxes might have to be removed if the problem persists. I'll ask for help on another unsolved problem in a separate post. From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com
Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Many of the states with the "Africanized Killer Bees" expanding are using cheap two gallon pulp fiber landscape buckets for trap locations. They have pop in lids for the top of the bucket and drill a 1&1/2" hole in the center of the buckets bottom. They hang this "trap" sideways in trees normally 12 feet or higher off of the ground. The Africanized bees normally have fairly small swarms similar probably to what Linda is experiencing with small secondary swarms leaving the many hives in California and moving into bluebird nestboxes. The trap boxes for these bees have a drop of Queen bee pheromone scent added to the inside of the box and this will draw most swarms to this potential nestsite. By stapling a small square of the beeswax used as a foundation for honey frames to the roof of these traps you increase the chances these bees will enter and begin using these "trap boxes." These are cheap and once a swarm has moved in a bee keeper can be contacted to come and remove the entire hive, clean out the bees by moving them to a regular hive body and return the trap box back to the park. The more swarms that move into these traps the better they seem to attract new swarms. A bluebird house is far too small for European honey bees to survive in and these small swarms will die out in this sized box come winter. African hybrids evolved in warm climates where a drought triggers massive swarming to new areas and dozens of swarms will come out of their hives containing only a cup or two of bees. These are VERY aggressive and the fifth man was stung to death in Texas just last week while mowing on a tractor. My tree trimmer just encountered the first swarm of African Hybrids last month here in town and was stung over 200 times before he could lower himself in the truck's bucket to the ground. The man helping brush the bees off and pull stingers out of his skin was also stung over 30 times.....He had removed hundreds of bee trees in towns in the past without ever seeing anything like this. They are now less than fifty miles south of Oklahoma and Arkansas. These bees are desperate for cavities just like the birds are and this is why they are attempting to use every available cavity even if it is too small. I would think the state of California would be furnishing these trap boxes to monitor the migration of the killer bees and at the least you could get the county to pay for the trap boxes and find a bee keeper willing to maintain these traps. KK Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 13:29:54 -0400
Haleya Priest Amherst MA Linda, et al, I have never had honeybees move into a Bluebird box, so I can't
help you. In fact the mite epidemic has pretty much decimated
our honeybeee population around here. I rarely see one, not
even in a field of Goldenrod. Gradually beekeepers are starting
to medicate their hives, and I gather that the medication works
pretty well if it's used properly. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com
Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas OK everyone on this list pretty well knows my brains takes pretty long leaps/bounces off sometimes imaginary walls.....Probably due to a severe brother/sister bicycle accident when I landed at high speed on my face/head when I was about 5 on an Ohio gravel road....Might just be extreme summer heat in Texas though. We have discussed competition between bird/mammal cavity nesters but wasps and solitary bees, spiders and ants ETC. are also often competitors or co-habitation species with our birds in and around nestboxes... What IF we provided these wasps/bumblebees with a nest site BELOW our nestboxes on the same mounting pole? They MIGHT be an early warning/guard station for the nesting birds as a predator begins to climb to the nestbox....I use a few Peterson nestboxes and the favorite place for wasps to nest for me in these is in that little hollow area underneath this style of box.....What IF we actually placed a custom made open bottom cavity to the bottom of our nestbox to allow the wasps to nest in peace away from the inside of our nestboxes????? Most of these wasps are territorial to some extent as you NEVER (almost never) see two queens building two nests in the same single compartment birdhouse at the same time. OK this is what I began last year and it worked to help the fly spider population on/in some of my nestboxes. These spiders, of three different species in my area eat flies (blowflies possibly) but are cannibals and will eat other spiders smaller than they are. So the little guys need to be able to crawl into a hole and hide from bigger siblings. The PERFECT cavities are found down at your local malt shop.....Plastic drinking straws come in three different diameters/sizes, cut them in two equal pieces and staple all three sizes to the bottom of your nestbox, one staple in the middle of about a 4" long piece with a staple gun designed for "co-ax cables". These straws will each hold a different age group/species of spider.....Normally one spider in each end. They also will provide a home for several different species of leaf cutter solitary, stingless bees which are good at pollinating many crops better than honey bees.... One of the favorite nest sites of paper wasps for me has always been the "birdhouse gourds" I would hang by the hundreds in my area when I was lots younger, from low hanging tree limbs..... Shawn and I have now added just about 100 various sized (3" diameter to 16" diameter) gourds in the past few weeks to our twenty acres and now have about 80 wood, concrete, plastic, metal bird nestboxes here at the house.....Depending on the species of paper wasps here their annual nests can be from about 2" to 9" across by fall..... What could make a good cheap wasp house? Various sizes but durable enough for a 5 year project???? I have donated heavily to Campbell's soup and Del Monte this year and they assure me that almost anywhere you can buy one of their "wasp houses" in kit form at grocery stores and cut off one end, dump out the contents, rinse them well and use their cans mounted in protected areas for "wasp houses"..... (OF course I did not call them:-))) but I am using these mounted upside down in REMOTE areas to see if they are used by wasps this year. I am trying to see IF I can put up more nestsites than there are wasps. IF you can safely have a wasp house mounted to the nestbox pole....IF less four legged and TWO legged predators will bother my nestboxes....Paper wasps are the #1 killer of all species of very hairy caterpillars especially the tent caterpillars which invade my fruit and nut trees. You have to be careful with this "tin can" wasp study because in more visible locations people ask silly questions like, "Did you know someone is screwing soup cans to the bottoms of some of your nestboxes????" Nobody has noticed the straws.....yet... Anyway if you are really having problems with wasps inside your nestboxes and don't mind possibly getting stung while experimenting consider doing experimentation and we might just find out that instead of being a problem we can use wasps to benefit our cavity nesters......There are endless debate issues like diameter/depth and mounting height and distance between paired (or 36) tin cans on the bottoms of wood duck boxes......Some of these cans actually are vinyl coated and I am installing a screw through the top of the can for the wasps to be able to attach their nest to the screw head..... I know Cornell included a "wasp study" with their nestboxes this past year and maybe they can run the numbers for us....On the outcome of their study....I swear I have NEVER knowingly used ANY illegal drugs! KK Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 13:26:22 -0500
Hi Keith, Your Message is timely for the upcoming nesting season and
The Birdhouse Network's introduction of a new optional study
in our database. The issue Stay tuned, we will have more information on this as we continue to refine our questions and update our database accordingly. Think spring! Tina Phillips ... From: klubea"at"comcast.net Is soap okay to use in a box? Or vaseline? Or both? I presume vaseline can melt easier and not be safe. What is the best and safest to rid boxes of bees. I see some post "soap". What kind ? Seems the world is very saturated with Smelly items its hard to find anything WITHOUT perfumes etc. Maybe good old yellow soap thats used for poison Ivy.?? Would love to hear suggestions. From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com
I just took my bar of Dove and rubbed it on the insides, bottom and the inside of the door. I have used it for 5 years and it does keep them from coming back. Since soap works for me, I don't bother with messy Vaseline. (This is for wasp) I don't have bees and don't know if that works or not. Evelyn Cooper Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 15:43:38 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. The question was asked how to keep "bees" out of boxes but the type of bee was not mentioned. For small bumblebee colonies, just leave them alone and put up another box. If the question relates to honeybees, then soap won't work and Vaseline won't work, and menthol creams won't work, etc., etc. If a honeybee swarm takes over your nestbox, be sure to find a beekeeper who will salvage the colony by hiving it (don't kill the colony). On my trail, swarms usually take over inactive boxes, or boxes with eggs. But last year, I lost a nest of six fully-feathered bluebird chicks to a swarm. The most effective swarm deterrent to swarms coming into my trail has been polyester batting on the nestbox ceilings. Make sure the polyester is fairly cushy so it easily entangles the (spiny) legs of scout bees. Seal the polyester batting all the way into the ceiling corners. And, it is best to have it brought down the sides a bit. If bees get a toehold, they will start wadding up the polyester and pulling it off the ceiling area by working inward. Some desperate swarms begin comb-building on the vertical surfaces while other bees are cleaning off the ceiling. The first nestbox on my trail to have eggs this season is hanging in a black eucalyptus tree and in full bloom (heavy with nectar) last week. There was a loud hum surrounding the nestbox area with hundreds of bees harvesting the nectar; a few bees were actually hanging onto the outside of the nestbox, others were hovering in front of the holes. This is what I see before the nestbox is taken over by a swarm. Inside the nestbox, the female WEBL was incubating 7 eggs. Now when I see this, I take *immediate* action: Make sure polyester fully covers the ceiling/corners of the active box; Tie fabric softener ("Bounce") somewhere on the outside of the active box; Squirt a bee deterrent (almond extract) on the fabric softener; Transfer the active nest into a brand new box that has never had a swarm use it. Put up additional nestboxes (with bee lures) as potential swarm boxes; If you have nestboxes which have recently been emptied of a swarm, use those as potential swarm boxes. I'm currently experimenting with a mix of bee deterrent and clear silicone caulk for some box finishes. It is my hope the imbedded bee deterrent will be a long-lasting. Boxes with this exterior finish are being used at sites where scout bees are seen hovering at the nestbox holes or where a few dead scout bees are found tangled in polyester, or where active boxes have been taken over by swarms in previous seasons. The bee deterrent is used by beekeepers to clear bees off honeycomb: Fisher's Bee-Quick (a natural, non-toxic blend of oils & herbal extracts). www.bee-quick.com Anyone using the oil-based deterrent must be careful not to place it where it could come in contact with eggs or the breast of the incubating female. ... From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
klubea in CT, et al, The BEES we see most are honeybees and the fat black and yellow bumblebees. I have never seen either in my houses. Linda V. gives good advice about handling honeybee swarms. It's possible that bumblebees have nested in Bluebird houses, but I've never seen them do it. Usually they nest in the ground. Their colonies are quite small, whereas a strong, healthy honeybee colony can number 60,000+- individuals, mostly sterile female workers. Such a colony is worth $30 to $50. What I see in my houses occasionally are the paper WASPS which make small grey nests in the boxes, usually attached to the ceiling. I rub ordinary yellow laundry soap on the ceiling, and the wasps do not return. I scrape the nests off at night with a hive tool or putty knife, and I try to be very agile and alert when I do it because I dislike being stung. Paper wasp colonies are very small, normally numbering only a couple of dozen members. The commonest kind of HORNET is the yellow-jacket, and they normally nest in the ground or in chinks in buildings. I've never seen them in a Bluebird house. White-faced hornets are especially vicious. They make large grey nests about the size of a basketball in trees or low bushes. I've never seen either of these hornets nesting in Bluebird houses. A bee which looks like a large nearly-all-black bumblebee is the carpenter bee. They normally drill holes in house trim to lay their eggs, and the male guards the hole, hovering almost motionless near the entrance. They can do a lot of damage through the years. Honybees are golden brown, and are normally very gentle unless provoked. So.....bees, wasps, and hornets. Study up on them and learn to tell the difference. Not all buzzing, stinging insects are bees, not by a long shot. Most, in fact, are not. Bruce Burdett, SW NH, for 20 years a beekeeper, but no more. Bruce Burdett SW NH From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net
We do share some wonderful knowledge on this listserv, don't we? I'd love to know about so many things I see every week when I monitor my site but then I'd have to live out of my car because I couldn't pay my mortgage because I'd have to quit my job to have enough time for all of this! I have been tempted to buy a butterfly guide but then I was told I'd need butterflies and damselflies so I decided I'd just ask others about what I was seeing. So I think I'll just depend on folks like Bruce to share their knowledge with us- and still be warm and comfy at night! Judy Mellin From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com
Please check this article: http://bluebird.htmlplanet.com/paperwasp.htm
Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
Fawzi, et al, I should have stressed in my "Bees,etc" post that, for the uninitiated, getting rid of WASP or HORNET nests is more safely done at night. Particularly when the nights are cool or cold, wasps and hornets are inclined to be less active and aggressive, if not downright inert and comatose. Ideally you should have an assistant by your side with a powerful flashlight, so that you can see what you're doing and have both hands free. By all means, wear gloves, and if you have some kind of insect veil, use it. Work fast, do what you plan to do, and get the h--- out. If you have a sting allergy, don't even THINK about it!! A friend of mine DIED about three hours after receiving several stings from common yellow-jacket hornets. He was a man among men, and a pillar of the community, but that didn't help him. As Linda advised, if you DO have a real honeybee colony in your birdhouse, call in an experienced beekeeper to re-hive it. Don't just kill it. For him (her) it's a routine job. For you it could be chaos. A stirred-up honeybee colony is no joke. And if he's a generous beekeeper, he'll be grateful enough to give you some honey, maybe even a supply for years to come. Thanks again, Fawzi. That was good information. Bruce Burdett, Sunapee NH, where it's supposed to hit 55° today! From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
Cheryl, et al, 1.) Scope out the nest in daytime with binoculars to locate
entrance-hole. A lot of the hornets will be killed almost instantly by the powerful poison spray. The survivors will be driven off by the residual noxious fumes. Individuals will disperse in all directions, and all colony unity will be destroyed. Use gloves, and a veil if you have one. Don't mess with these hornets. They're vicious and aggressive when they're healthy. Don't try to edge up on an active nest in the daytime. They'll probably see you coming and nail you. Follow ALL the directions on the spray-can meticulously. This is a serious poison. If you are allergic to stings, don't even consider this method. Hire an exterminator. His fee will be preferable to dying by anaphylactic shock. Bruce Burdett, SW NH Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 12:57:44 -0800 In California, a single bumblebee will occasionally usurp a
Western or Mountain Bluebird nest. A single bbee will dig down
in the middle of the nest and that's it for the birds, they're
outta there. From: "PTom" ptom"at"austin.rr.com
We each live in a different world. Normal circumstances for one are entirely different for someone else. Haleya in Massachusetts commented, "this is a little too early for problems with wasps and things". In Central Texas I cleared out wasps as I was readying nestboxes for spring - in January! Pauline Tom From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com
Yes, wasps have been my major problem for the last two weeks. Wasps had stopped the Bluebirds from working on a nest for two days. I put some Vaseline in the top of the box since the soap wasn't doing the job. The wasp seem to be out in greater numbers this year. They really thrive in this 80* weather we have had! As for the person asking about "giving up", I am still getting new claim straws in nestboxes every day. Then, I am finding nests started in the nestboxes. I have activity in 13 of my 17 nestboxes. Last year, I had 7 active nestboxes on the first cycle. (I had my nestbox up for two years before I had a taker) Last year, I fledged 65 babies! Never give up! Evelyn Cooper Delhi, La. Louisiana Bayou Bluebird Society Bluebirds along the bayous......where we lend a helping hand! www.labayoubluebirdsociety.org 32.4450 Lat. N, 91.5760 Long. W, approx. 600 ft east and north of Muddy Slough From: "Nancy C. Hebb" Fencroft"at"msn.com
Being new to the list, I missed the soap answer to wasps. Is there something that works for honey bees? they are everywhere, pawing through sheep feed, invading sunflower feeders, and buzzing around the nesting boxes. Also, the HOSP are nesting in BB boxes on posts, rather than being up by the house. They frequent the ground a lot, so I hoped a ground trap might work, where I could watch it easily. Nancy Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 10:30:43 -0600
To control wasps, yellowjackets and spiders in my bluebird
houses, I understand I need to spray the (empty) interiors with
pyrethrin, safe for birds. When I try to find a source for same,
I can only find insecticides with 10% pyrethrin in the solution.Is
this the right proportion of pyrethrin? Can anyone suggest a
few names of commercial insecticides that are safe for bluebirds?
One post suggested yellow laundry soap - what's the name of
it, is it effective for the above pests too? From: "d.rohde" d.rohde"at"attbi.com
Gayle, You might look over the information on this website before using pyrethrin. I would NOT use it in my nestboxes. http://www.pesticide.org/PyrethrinsPyrethrum.pdf We use a mild (1 oz/gal) solution of water and orange oil (d-limonene) as an insecticide and preventative. (We also use an orange oil drench for fire ant mounds.) Doug Rohde From: "Karen Louise Lippy" brdbrain"at"superpa.net
I'm not sure if anyone remembers about the European paper wasp. They are cavity nesting species that survive the winters and continue to expand the hive the following year, unlike our paper wasps which die off leaving only a few to hibernate and reproduce the following spring. They are said to be aggressive and their habit of filling cavities with their nests makes them a threat to cavity nesting species since they eliminate many sites that could be used by our birds and mammals. They look a little like yellowjackets Karen from South Central PA Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 19:50:41 -0600
Go to a pet store and get spray for caged birds. Kate Arnold From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com
Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant Texas This is why in only extremely rare cases should anyone ever need to resort to using a spray and then the only thing that comes close is the sprays designed and tested for "caged" birds. As Doug points out even these tested and approved insecticides can have more serious side effects than the insects you are trying to get rid of. Caged bird sprays and those used in commercial poultry operations all contain one of the many related families of pyretroids. I missed the most important part of Gayle Burnetts post as she was going to spray the "empty interiors" of nestboxes to PREVENT wasps, bees ETC from using the boxes. The caged bird sprays and other related pyrethrims are really ONLY contact killers with little or no residual effects. They will NOT prevent ants or wasps from entering the box or even harm the new insects in most cases that come in even 24 hours later! You can get the same results from using warm soapy water or Doug's orange mixture in a spray bottle to drown the insects when you find them. Most insects that invade a nestbox are more of a nuisance or a danger to the monitors than they are to the birds! Spiders probably actually benefit the birds by feeding on other insects or actually becoming food for the nesting birds. Most single wasp nests can be removed with a putty knife a few times and they will move and find a safe place to nest. My normal style of nestbox has two full width 1/2"3/4" side air gaps right up by the roof and this helps to create a cold draft that blows across the inside roof of the box and this draft and extra light help reduce the numbers of nesting wasps that attach their nests to the roof of my nestboxes. For those worried about "cold boxes" according to the readings of the temperature data loggers placed in different styles of nestboxes a large slot top vent is just as warm/cold at night as a style of nestbox with small or no ventilation slots when exposed to a cold spring wind. Large side vents normally allow you to observe a wasp nest attached to the roof BEFORE you open the nestbox! For those with wasp problems in the next coming weeks watch to see if they are using nestboxes with only a couple of 3/8" top ventilation holes or the size/height of the side vents in your nestboxes. Cornell is actually going to do a more detailed study of insects and their competition so keep track of what you see, how often you remove insects and possibly add a few extra boxes and allow an "insect" invasion as a test sample. Shawn and I now have up about 100+ "wasp houses" and they seem to prefer the small gourds we have installed from 510 feet off the ground. Hopefully Tina can bring us up to speed on what we should be recording and trying to observe in regards to the insects. KK From: "david calhoun" dlcdmd"at"bellsouth.net
Hi all.I used the soap trick in all my ceiling and it worked.
No wasp nests on the roofs. Now the wasps in st least two boxes
are building nests on the side.( One started about 4 nests).Question-Does
anyone also soap the sides of the boxes( on the inside)? If
I did , is there any concern that it might harm the babies or
interfere with nesting? Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 09:49:58 -0500 I work for a nature center and we have just put up 8 Bluebird Boxes and have had wasp move in. Although they don't bother me, my volunteer monitors seem worried about them. We soaped the tops, but they've built on the insides. My questions to you all are: Is it okay to soap the sides of the boxes? And one of our grounds crew suggested using "Victor Poison-free wasp & Hornet Killer". Active ingredients are Mint Oil and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Is this safe to use? I'd rather not kill them, just have them go away so our monitors aren't afraid to check the boxes. Thanks, From: "judymellin" judymellin"at"netzero.net
When I was checking my boxes last week, I had one that was inhabited only by wasps/yellowjackets/bees. They were beginning to build a nest on the ceiling of the box. Since I am not fond of whatever those things are, and since the boxes was not claimed by any bird species, I decided just to leave the box open for the week (with the door unsecured and hanging down). Well, when I monitored today, the creatures were gone! I did find a couple of dead ones on the floor of the box but there was no nest on the ceiling and no one hanging around, inside or out. I don't know enough about these critters to explain what happened but it appeared to solve my problem. So, if you have these insects building inside an unoccupied nest box, you might try this simple way to discourage them. Judy Mellin From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
Karen Louise, et al,
It sounds to me as if Judy is describing the European paper
wasp, an introduced species. There is concern that they will
take over many cavities because they live from year to year
and continue to expand the hive unlike our native paper wasps
which die off over winter leaving only queens to start new nests
the following year. They are everywhere here where my boxes
are, and do build in them and fill them quickly if not monitored
closely. I was told they are much more aggressive than our native
paper wasps, but have not had that experience. I have never
been stung yet while removing the nests (kock wood!), From: Bruce Burdett Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2003 5:16 PM Subject: Re: A Way with Wasps Judy, From: "RON- OHIO BLUEBIRD SOCIETY" OHBLUEBIRD"at"SSSNET.COM
Has anyone had experience with a product called "Amsoil"? It is a synthetic lubricant used for food processing equipment and is non toxic to humans. It was recommended to me by an experienced birder who has used it for several years in both purple martin and bluebird nest boxes to prevent wasps from building their nests. It is used to coat the roof and sides of the box and will last an entire season without breaking down like petroleum jelly. From: "Dan Hanan" danhan7"at"earthlink.net
In the past several years, my trail has had some snake predator problems. This year, I put guards on all 24 nestboxes. I use an inverted 5 gallon pail mounted on the pole just below the bird box. An unexpected consequence of using the buckets has been that the paper wasps are now building the nests inside the buckets and are leaving the nestboxes alone. Last year, wasps gave me problems in up to 2/3 of the boxes. So far this year, no wasps in boxes with buckets. Dan Hanan From: Brucemac1"at"aol.com Good Morning All, I have used two different methods to prevent paper wasps from using nestboxes to hang their grey paper nests. While cleaning and setting up boxes in the Spring, as a final touch, I scrub a fairly heavy coat of regular laundry soap (bar of soap) around the interior perimeter edges of the ceilings (roofs) of the nestbox. I normally do the same to the very top of the walls, but concentrate on the ceilings. That seems to do the trick. If, during the nesting season, I observe any additional wasp activity, I use 'Pam' cooking oil to spray around those same upper corners of the nest box. I even spray the beginnings of any wasp nests, soaking them with Pam. That usually disscourages the wasps. Bruce Macdonald SW Ontario, south of Detroit, near Lake Erie Date: Mon, 05 May 2003 21:18:36 -0700 Dear Friends, As Phil states, AMSOIL is "primarily a motor oil" and when I use to race cars at Sears Point, CA (Yes, I use to race and drove a 1963 Austin Healey 3000 BJ7 Roadster which I still have) I used AMSOIL for my rear axle. Now it maybe safe to use on the inside of a nest box for keeping Paper Wasps at bay, but this is a first for me and maybe I'll try it as I have plenty of AMSOIL. I like the old method of using Naphtha Soup though (which you can get at any hardware store.) Just rub the Naphtha Soup on the underside of the roof and that's all there is to it. However, here is one tip for using any synthetic oil product (be it AMSOIL, STP Oil Treatment or whatever) for your Bluebird nest boxes. If you are using a EMT poles and would like to keep those pesky Raccoons, cats and snakes from trying to climb the poles, just brush a little synthetic motor oil on the EMT as one good treatment on the pole and your good for the season. The reason, AMSOIL and other synthetic oil products do not harden, cake or dry out like petroleum based oil products do. ... Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 11:32:55 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. This is another call for help with deterring honeybee swarms. No one has had any solutions in the past but I'm hoping the new folks on the List might have expertise in bee deterrents (besides nasty-smelling "Bee-Gon"). Lost another clutch of Bluebirds to a honeybee swarm; beeswax comb starts on the outside face of the nestbox, fully feathered about-to-fledge dead Bluebird chicks on the inside. I've been putting polyester batting where comb is usually started on the interior nestbox ceilings; that may have caused the swarm to settle on the outside face of the box and move elsewhere after its untimely rest period on the doomed box of chicks. A total of Bluebird chicks have died on my trail because of honeybee swarms. Several other attempts have been aborted/delayed because of swarms taking over the boxes before eggs were laid. I usually take down the hanging nestboxes with swarms and bag them up for the local beekeeper. However, the next nine swarms (one swarm for each dead chick) won't be as lucky. No. A fine screen mesh will be placed over nestbox holes of the next nine swarms during mid-day when field bees are outside the box gathering nectar. Those field bees will feed the trapped bees through the mesh until they are too old to forage. Bees are very communal. They know where other colonies are located and look for opportunities to rob each other. In addition, bees can be trained to come to an exact spot daily at tea time. Since bees are both trainable and communal, I will see if local bees can recognize neighboring nestbox bees in distress and associate that distress with nestboxes. It is a shot in the dark but there is nothing to lose by trying. From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
Linda, et al, I've done this many times just as an educational demonstration, using a sheet of plywood leaned against the front of the hive. What happens when you remove the plywood is also awesome. Within 5 minutes, all 10,000 plus are back in the hive unloading their burdens of nectar and pollen. I'm puzzled by the fact that your honeybees out there occupy Bluebird houses. The swarms that I'm familiar with would require 10 to 20 times the space that a mere birdhouse would provide. Do they build comb on the outside of the house as well as on the inside? As I've told you, I have never seen honeybees occupy a Bluebird
house, so I have no experience dealing with such a thing. My
assumption was that the birdhouses are simply too small to interest
them. When my honeybees swarmed, I simply installed them in
a new hive, and if I didn't do it promptly they'd abscond to
a hollow tree and I'd lose them for good. A strong swarm is
worth real money. I used to pick up free swarms from all over
Simsbury (CT) and the surrounding towns. The police would call
me when the panic-stricken suburbanites would call them. The
whole thing was often pretty amusing. Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 15:21:26 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Bruce, on my trail, I handle around a dozen swarms during the active season and carry my bee suit with me at all times so I can immediately take down the box and check to see if eggs or chicks can be salvaged. I know how bees react and what to expect. What I'm looking for are suggestions on how to DETER them. To answer your questions: Swarms prefer large nestboxes and will take over duck boxes, large kestrel boxes, my mansions, and even tiny nestboxes with 4x4 floor as a last resort. Tomorrow I will get up early to take down two more nestbox swarms to bag up for the beekeeper. One of those boxes has almond extract (a bee deterrent purchased from a beekeeper supply firm) mixed in silicone caulk as the exterior sealant. Almond extract didn't deter the swarm. Aside from the toll bees are taking to Bluebirds, it is really a nuisance because each new swarm ties up three trail boxes: 1) The swarm takes the "real" box When the Africanized bees become common, things will get even more interesting. Hopefully, someone will come up with some suggestions on how to deter them. From: "Lawrence Herbert" lherbert"at"4state.com
Someone commented or had a question the other day about mud-daubers. In my experience the ones that occasionally get into bird houses, such as organ pipe mud-dauber, are harmless to the birds and to us. The bluebirds seem to know that and nest along with them. There have been times when the "organ pipe" got clear across one wall of the box. I knocked those down in the winter. They are not aggressive. I wouldn't pick one up to see just how hard they could sting however! If you want to read further on a web site or book, they're in the Hymenoptera order and Sphecidae family of insects. The paper wasps are a different subject. They must be managed or they will take over the nest box and build up to huge numbers. I make a note "wasp removed" when I monitor the boxes for my own statistical purposes. Their sting is powerful and care must be taken. I use a 1 X 2 X 2 ft. that is in the vehicle to remove them if there are only one or a few. Good birding, Larry H. Joplin MO. Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 12:14:03 -0400
The VICTOR division of Woodstream Corporation of Lititz, PA
[the mouse/rat trap company] now manufactures a POISON FREE
WASP & HORNET KILLER in an aerosol spray container. The
active ingredients are Mint Oil 8.00% and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
1.00%. Inert ingredients are at 91% including water and CO2.
The product is dispensed as a penetrating foam and seems to
work well....quick kill. Net wt.17.5oz. It comes in a bright
yellow aerosol canister. Cost me $4.45+tx at a country store
in North Fairfield. As we approach third nestings and August
nestbox maintenance, the incidence of wasps and hornets on the
trail almost always picks up. This product might be just the
ticket for your safety but without harm to the environment.
Interested? More information can be found at the website: www.victorpest.com
Just put "Poison Free Wasp & Hornet Killer" in
the Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 15:21:55 -0400
If this is your first season of monitoring a bluebird nest box(es), you might want to pay special attention to this information. It comes from one who has been down the trail a time or two and who shares this info out of concern for your safety. As the nesting season moves along into late July and August (earlier in the South), wasps and hornets (of all kinds) seem to gravitate to bird nest boxes and appurtenances as sites for their nests and brood raising. My guess is that it may be the higher temperatures in/about the boxes that causes this phenomenon. Accordingly, begin to approach all nest boxes with greater caution at this time of the nesting season. Thoroughly inspect the OUTSIDE of the box...especially under the box and behind the box and between the back of the box and its mounting pipe/post. These are favorite locations for wasp/hornet nests (dark, well hidden). In addition, you must be especially concerned if a pipe is used for the box mounting...they build nests down inside the pipe and will explode out of it if disturbed. If you use a Kingston(sheet metal) or PVC tubular predator guard, you must be especially vigilant. These potentially harmful insects are very prone to attach their nests up, inside these moveable guards. One bump against the mounting post, and the alarm bell goes off and the attack is swift and certain. Even if these guards are sealed tight to the post at the top, the attack can come from beneath the guard. As always, open the door/side cautiously. A wasp/hornet build up may have taken place since your last monitoring visit....not only on the sides or the roof, but also in the vacated nesting material. Be very careful when removing used nests at this season...this is a favorite site for what are commonly called "ground bees." There is, in my opinion, no best time to monitor boxes so as
at avoid disturbing the wasps/hornets or bees. Use good common
sense. Approach with caution and SIZE UP THE SITUATION (inside/out)
before beginning your nest box monitoring. If there is an abundance
of insect activity and a Please plan your bluebird trail work with these cautions in mind. They could make a big difference in the outcome of this year's successful trail management. I hope that other experienced bluebirders will add to this with their advice and suggestions. Dean Sheldon, Ripley Township, Huron County, OH From: Keith & Sandy Kridler, txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Paper wasps compete with birds for cavities and can be a problem for trail monitors who are allergic to their venom. In the next two months we will start getting a lot of questions about how to deal with these insects that invade our nestboxes. Queens over winter in an area and then seek out a protected location to build a paper nest and create a colony that will may survive and multiply all summer. They often feed on caterpillars so in a way they also compete with the birds for food but there is normally a huge supply of caterpillars when the wasp colonies are building up in the heat of summer. Last year I experimented with putting up wasp houses to see if I could draw the wasps away from my nestboxes and into their own habitat....Shawn and I put up about 100 various sized birdhouse gourds hanging them from tree limbs. I also experimented with various sized tin cans attached to fence posts, attached to the bottoms of large nestboxes, Some were mounted about 12 feet off the ground and some were only about 2 feet off the ground. Did you know that just like bluebirds the closer to the ground you mount a wasp house and the closer to the trunk of a tree that you mount their house the more likely the wasp colony would be wiped out by climbing predators? We have four main wasp species in this area and the most used "tin can" wasp house size was Campbell's soup cans. The most successful mounting location (least predation) for these cans was screwing the can to the lower limbs of trees, far from the trunk, with the open end of the can facing down. The wasps preferred rusty cans to the ones with plastic or painted linings inside the cans. It would help to burn these cans first to remove the painted linings or Zinc that is used to protect the steel. With plastic linings the wasps would always attach the base of their nest to the head of the screw holding up the can. The wasps favorite "nestbox" was the birdhouse gourds which were attached to lower tree limbs, barbed wire fences ETC. They preferred building in houses that were shaded. Several wasp nests were destroyed over summer due to squirrels or woodpeckers tearing up the gourds. They avoided locations out in the open IF they had a choice. It would probably help to leave the lid on and only open a hole in the bottom large enough to just admit the wasps. Spiders also found these gourds and tin cans to make good house locations. Two of the cans mounted to low hanging trees limbs, near a creek were filled with mud dauber nests. Anyway it will be interesting to see if I get an increase in occupancy in specific wasp houses and a decrease in bird houses this next year. I found chickadees, titmice and downy woodpeckers using the "wasp gourds" hanging from low tree limbs last week to roost in. This next year I will use sections of timber bamboo and drill holes in the chambers for wasps, spiders and wood boring bumble bees to create a more natural looking insect habitat. KK From: Bet Zimmerman, ezdz"at"charter.net Keith - this is interesting, in terms of telling us which nestbox locations might be preferred by paper wasps. But couldn't setting up wasp houses potentially attract and increase the population of paper wasps around nesting spots and thereby exacerbate the problem? Doesn't "soaping" the interior roof of the nestbox address the problem of them colonlizing nestboxes? Bet from CT From: Pamela Ford, jpford"at"comcast.net As far as soaping goes, while it seems to discourage, it doesn't completely deter the wasps from building nests in my nest boxes. They simply find a small surface without soap or build on the side or screw head. In the last two years there has been a surge of paper wasp activity on my trails, especially the European Paper Wasp. It will be interesting to see what Keith has to say about encouraging the populations vs. moving them away from nest boxes. Pam in Harford County, Maryland From: Maynard R Sumner, m-r-sumner"at"juno.com Last year I used cooking spray like Pam in some of my boxes and I did not have any wasps. Maynard Sumner Flint, MI From: C & G STATTON, statton"at"mdvl.net Maynard, Your posting about using cooking spray, such as “PAM”, to deter paper wasps is very interesting. I hope you don’t mind answering a few questions about this. Had any of the sprayed boxes actually had wasp nests prior to your use of the cooking spray (either prior years or last year before the spraying)? Since “assuming” is always dangerous territory, I’ll ask if the nestboxes were empty or if any nestings were in process when you sprayed the boxes. If the boxes were empty, did you block the entrance hole for any time period to delay the start of any nestings? This is being asked to try to determine if there is any need to provide ‘airing-out’ time to let any ‘fumes’ dissipate before the birds were allowed access to the box. Since such sprays are deemed edible by humans, did you have resources for determining that none of its ingredients are of potential harm to birds? Did any birds nest in any of the boxes after the boxes were sprayed? If the boxes had nestings in process, did you take any particular measures to protect the nestings (e.g. cover them, temporarily remove them, etc.) while spraying the boxes? Does the spray leave any sort of residue that might transfer to the birds (e.g. feathers or skin)? If so, did you wipe off that residue … or, is this the very feature of the spray, on box surfaces, that prevents wasps from anchoring their nests? Did a single application last the entire nesting season or did you do repeat applications? I apologize for so many questions. I’d love find something that works so well against paper wasps, we’re heavily loaded with the European variety, but would first like to learn as much as I can before trying this. Thank you for any info you can provide. Although I posted this to the list, if no one else is interested in this extent of details, a private response would be appreciated. Thank you. From: Maynard R Sumner, m-r-sumner"at"juno.com I will try to help you out. I will answer in CAPS. ...Had any of the sprayed boxes actually had wasp nests prior to your use of the cooking spray (either prior years or last year before the spraying)? YES, ALL OF THEM. THAT WAS WHY I USED IT. Since "assuming" is always dangerous territory, I'll ask if the nestboxes were empty or if any nestlings were in process when you sprayed the boxes. THE BOXES WERE EMPTY. If the boxes were empty, did you block the entrance hole for any time period to delay the start of any nestlings? This is being asked to try to determine if there is any need to provide 'airing-out' time to let any 'fumes' dissipate before the birds were allowed access to the box. YES, ONE DAY Since such sprays are deemed edible by humans, did you have resources for determining that none of its ingredients are of potential harm to birds? NO, I DID NOT. BY THE TIME I OPEN THE UP I DO NOT THINK IT WILL HARM THE BIRDS. Did any birds nest in any of the boxes after the boxes were sprayed? YES, ALL THE BOXES HAD NESTS AFTER SPRAYING WAS DONE. If the boxes had nestlings in process, did you take any particular measures to protect the nestlings (e.g. cover them, temporarily remove them, etc.) while spraying the boxes? NO BOX HAD NESTS BEFORE SPRAYING. Does the spray leave any sort of residue that might transfer to the birds (e.g. feathers or skin)? If so, did you wipe off that residue or, is this the very feature of the spray, on box surfaces, that prevents wasps from anchoring their nests? BY THE TIME I OPEN THE BOX UP IT HAD NO RESIDUE THAT WOULD COME OFF. Did a single application last the entire nesting season or did you do repeat applications? I HAD TO DO IT ONE TIME FOR EACH BOX. I apologize for so many questions. I'd love find something that works so well against paper wasps, we're heavily loaded with the European variety, but would first like to learn as much as I can before trying this. ... From: Keith & Sandy Kridler, txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Some were wondering if I will be over run with paper wasps in a few years if I encourage them. What I saw this summer is that about 50% of the wasp colonies died out. Many of the mud daubers (they feed their young, spiders) young were being parasitized by another wasp species and few of the mud daubers will survive till spring. Queen paper wasps disperse over winter and I don't know of ANYONE else in the USA that is trying to help increase the numbers of paper wasps. One of the main predators of the paper wasps in the tin cans was the common (in our area) large black fly spider. The female spider can be 3/4" long and quite heavy for a leaping spider. They sometimes spin a white cocoon type shelter that they hide in while digesting food and later will lay their eggs in this. Cornell researchers, a couple of years ago were trying to see if by adding about a half of a cotton ball stapled to the inside tops of nestboxes if this would frighten the paper wasps into believing that one of these spiders was residing in the nestbox and the wasps should look elsewhere for a nest site. I don't think this worked. It is not unusual for me to have 10 or 15 of these half grown fly spiders wintering over in old bluebird nests...I don't use any insecticides inside my nestboxes any more. I experimented the past two summers with adding half length plastic drinking straws stapled to the bottoms of nestboxes to see if I could encourage more of these spiders to use the "safety tunnel" straws and survive better at my nestboxes. It looks like the drinking straws do help the spiders when they are young but these straws are way too small for the adult spiders to use....The spiders are cannibals so only a couple of adults will co-exist with the bluebirds at each nestbox during the summer. In fall the spiders are more tolerant of each other. Drinking straws are also used to increase the numbers of small leaf cutter bees who build their solitary nests in tunnels and are essential for pollinating flowers and some crops. None of these straws mounted at the nestboxes was successful at attracting nesting leaf cutter bees and I believe this is because nearly every nestbox has spiders who eat most of the insects drawn to the nestbox. I saw at least three adult black fly spiders eating paper wasps this year and it only takes a day or less for them to consume the wasps juices. I sent old nests in again for the blowfly study and MANY of the Chickadee and titmice nests were parasitized by blowflies while only about 1 in 100 bluebird nests were parasitized....(I have helped with blowfly research with three different PHD guys now over more than 2 decades and although I did not send in 100's of bluebird nests this year I did go through each of them very carefully and forwarded on those containing blowflies and I believe just one box of bird nests I sent on contained more than 50 nests this year) I will have to look closer this year but there may be a reason why most of the chickadees and titmice on my 20 acres had blowflies at the same time that NONE of the 7 nesting bluebirds had a single blowfly in their nest. It almost has to be a difference in nest material used by these bird species or there is a difference in the birds tolerance of predators (the black or gray fly spiders) of these flies or the flies themselves. I am going to use short sections of 1/2" diameter polypropylene pipe or bamboo sections this year under the bottoms of nestboxes to see if the larger fly spiders will increase in population at the nestbox sites. There are SOOOO many really interesting aspects of nature you can explore with young students simply by placing nestboxes and observing the diverse animal life you can benefit with this "bluebird" project. KK From: Crystal Hill, crystaljhill"at"msn.com In my two remaining boxes that have not been chosen as home. (third box has the partial Chickadee nest) I am having trouble with wasp going in the boxes. As the weather has warmed considerably. No wasp nest built but they are going in and doing who knows what. I have as suggested put the soap on the inside of the roof (this was done 2-3 weeks ago). The wasp I am finding are inside on the bottom and sides. Can and should I put soap there as well? And how often should you reapply the soap? I don't want the wasp to deter any potential nesters looking for a home. Thanks, once again for your time and information. Crystal Social Circle, GA From:
Keith & Sandy Kridler, txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net I saw a large swarm of honeybees heading off to find a new home somewhere east of our house about 10 AM. Wasps that are quietly sitting in the bottom of the nestboxes and clustered on the insides of the nestboxes are simply using the box as a staging area until the weather warms up a bit. These are normally queens and they will each seek out a safe nesting site that will be protected from wind and rain this summer. Unfortunately many nestboxes are also the perfect wasp house. Nestboxes that have large air vents along two opposite sides normally have fewer wasps using this style than a nestbox that only has a couple of smaller holes for vents or a box that only has a single vent over the top of the front board. Wasps are cold blooded creatures and should seek out a box with the least "cold air drafts". Remember that wasps feed on other insects mostly caterpillars and are one of the few predators of the "web worms" or other spinney skin types of caterpillars. Most of these wasps will leave on their own soon and the ones beginning a nest either attached to the roof or the sides of the box will normally be a solitary queen. Scraping out the nest of the queen when it is still a single cell of paper will sometimes get her to move to another location. Some like House Sparrows are more persistent or another may move in immediately to replace her. Bumble bees are great pollinators and are native to North America whereas the honeybee was imported and both of these species will begin using larger nestboxes for new colonies this spring. Bumble bees like to take over a mouse nest and convert it into a brood chamber for young bumble bees. The terribly invasive non-native, European Honey bees ":-)))" can survive in the south overwinter in a wood duck nestbox sized home. When bumble bees take over a nestbox I normally just put up a new box for the birds and leave the bumble bees have their nestbox for a season. Seems like when I tell people I have bumble bees using some of my nestboxes that I have fewer two legged predators tampering with some of these:-))) KK From: Donna L Hummer [mailto:hummed"at"juno.com]
I have bees inside my bluebird box. Any ideas on what to do? Thanks, Donna From:
Bruce Burdett [mailto:blueburd"at"tds.net] Donna, I have seen wasps (Paper Wasps) in my Bluebird houses every summer during the past 15 years of Bluebirding, but I have never seen a bee. My guess is that yours are not bees, but wasps, though I do recall that Linda, out in CA, often has bees in her houses. If I have a wasps' nest in a house I just scrape it out, squash as many wasps as I can, and clean up the mess. I then rub some soap on the ceiling. They seem not to like to attach their nest to a soaped ceiling. Bruce Burdett, SW NH P.S.: If they are really bees, there'll be hundreds around, even thousands. If they are wasps, you'll see maybe a dozen or so. A bees' comb will be LARGE, maybe basketball size. A wasps' nest is small, maybe the size of a plum, or a dried apricot. A bee colony is difficult to remove; a wasps' nest takes just seconds. A bees' comb is made of wax...snow white when it's new. A wasps' nest is made of greyish paper. Lots of differences. A dog is not a cat; a wasp is not a bee. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: BluebirdNut.com [mailto:bluebirdnut"at"a-znet.com]
Donna, Are these bees, or paper wasps? My yard is infested with paper wasps as soon as the weather turns warm. I use a very, very thin coating of vaseline on the inside roof of the nestbox, and about an inch down from the roof on the sides. This prevents them from attaching their papery nests to the box. After doing this, I had no more trouble with wasps. I tried doing the same with bar soap one year, as some had suggested, but found it hard to get into all the corners with it. If you want, you can use a small, stiff paintbrush, or one of those little "foam" wedge brushes to apply the vaseline. Just make sure it is super thin - almost rub it into the wood -otherwise the birds can get it on their feathers, and that's not good. Cher From: Rappaho"at"aol.com Hi Donna, Early in the morning or sometime in the night, when it is much cooler, wearing a long sleeved shirt, leather goves, carefully remove the bees. Place them in a tree. Close off hole to house for a few days. If you are talking about LOTS of bees, call your extension center or conservation department. They will know of someone who will come and get them. Best of luck!! kathy. From: Bruce Burdett [mailto:blueburd"at"tds.net]
With all due respect, kathy, and speaking as a beekeeper of long experience, I think your suggestion to "carefully remove the bees and put them in a tree" is very hazardous. If Donna's insects are really honeybees, (which I doubt by the way,) then removing them alive and establishing them in a new hive is a pretty arduous and time-consuming job for a highly-skilled person. Of course, killing them all with poison is fairly simple and quick, but it would be a shame to destroy a valuable swarm, and the poison residue in the Bluebird house would not be good for the birds. The very thought of removing a swarm of bees and "putting them in a tree" sends shivers down my spine, especially if our friend Donna happens to be allergic to bee stings. A friend of mine died from stings inside of an hour. (They happened to be hornet stings, but the venom is essentially the same.) If Donna's things are really bees, and she's not a skilled beekeeper, then she should definitely call a real expert. This is serious business. Bruce Burdett, SW NH P.S.: If they're wasps, then just carefully scrape 'em out and carefully squash 'em. It just takes seconds. A wasp doesn't look anything like a bee. My bottom line is: "Hornets and wasps are NOT bees." Now I'll shut up. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: Bruce Burdett
This is moderately off-topic, but I'll take a chance that it will be useful to this List. In answer to some questions put to me by someone on BLUEBIRD-L: 1.) The insects you see by the hundreds on your pussywillows are probably honeybees. Pussywillows are their very first source of pollen in the spring, and they flock to it. Pollen is their solid protein; honey is their liquid carb. 2.) Honeybees are basically brown or golden brown, and are compactly built. Wasps are black or very dark brown, and they have long, gangly bodies and thin wasp-waists. Yellow-jackets (hornets) have distinct bright yellow stripes, and are about the size of honeybees. 3.) African and Africanized honeybees have not reached Michigan yet and probably won't, because it gets too cold for them there. They're tricky to handle, but not nearly as dangerous as the popular scare-mythology would have us believe. They're very productive honey-producers, I'm told, but require especially careful management. 4. ) I wonder if the things on and in your house are perhaps Yellow-jackets, and not wasps. That sounds like Yellow-jacket behaviour to me. Wasps don't usually gather in such large numbers, and their colonies are relatively small. 5.) Honeybees are normally gentle and harmless UNLESS they are severely disturbed. When they are disturbed, the females can and do sting, and sting hard. Also, the venom emits a pheromone (odor) which attracts other bees to sting the same place. They seem to HATE the color black, and often mass-attacked my watch-strap when I got them ticked off. 6.) Yellow-jackets are NEVER gentle and harmless! Also, they have a barbless stinger, and one individual can sting many times. When a honeybee stings, it dies an awful death. 7.) I often used to keep an active Honeybee hive right beside our back door, just to prove a point. The bees never bothered anybody, though they made a few folks nervous. 8.) The "white boxes" you speak of sound to me like beehives. Modern beehives are usually made of 3/4" white pine lumber and are painted white to keep them cool in summer. 9.) The "bee-box" you describe (with small holes??) sounds like nothing I've ever seen or heard of. It sounds like a sales gimmick to me No such box would attract bees or in any way benefit your garden flowers. Honeybee colonies live either in hives or in hollow trees, normally, though occasionally they build comb out in the open air. (or even in Linda Violett's hanging Bluebird boxes) It won't upset the beekeeper's colonies, but I'd deep-six it anyway. 10. ) Wasps have small colonies and build small paper combs in enclosures like Bluebird houses. Hornet colonies are large, and build nests mostly in the ground or in the walls of buildings, though in a pinch they build in other places as well. I've found their nests in junkpiles. The big White-face Hornets build big grey paper nests the size of watermelons, often just at thigh height in undergrowth. LOOK OUT! 11.) Honeybees have REALLY large colonies, often reaching 50,000 or 60,000 individuals in the hottest part of summer. )Yes, that's sixty thousand.) I kept a colony on a scale once, and one day its weight increased by 51 pounds. They were cheating, in a way, because they were furiously robbing honey from a neighbor's colony which had gone queenless. In about 4 days they emptied the entire hive. 12. ) Neither wasps nor hornets make honey. There's an awful lot of misinformation and just plain ignorance out there about bees, hornets and wasps. I hope I've shed a little light on this interesting subject. (I apologize to those who couldn't care less.) Bruce Burdett SW NH From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] Bruce, Thank you for such an informative post. In number 9, you mention a "nestbox" that was being sold for "bees". Believe it or not, these little creatures exist - especially in the Midwest. Every year, our local parks describe how to make a box to attract these great pollinators (have to call them that, because, being old, I can't recall their name). I've also seen articles in "The Organic Gardner" magazine on using these boxes. If whoever was asking about them, emails me offlist (can't keep sending OT onlist), I'll try to locate the info for them. These are actually small, native "bees", not the imported honeybee. Dottie Roseboom Peoria IL (central) NABS member From: ke4fej1 [mailto:ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com]
Hi All, One of my Monitors reported for about 3-4 weeks that she had bees in one of her new BB boxes. She would love to have the bees but wanted the BBs more. Each time she took the bees out... don't ask me how. The last time she just moved the box and she has had no more trouble. Christy Sarasota, FL Web Site http://ke4fej1.tripod.com/ From: L Violett
[mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Donna, since you first posted asking what to do with the bees in your box, it was suggested you confirm that you have bees (as opposed to wasps/hornets) and I haven't seen your response. Here in Southern California, honeybee swarms in boxes have been a problem on my trail for several years and colonies swarm more frequently now that Africanized hybrids are in our area. The Africanized bees are genetically geared for warmer weather and, therefore, are not programmed to build up large colonies and honey reserves to survive cold winters. Therefore, the Africanized bees are more attracted to smaller spaces such as nestboxes. Swarms of bees are so routine in our area that both myself and a co-monitor carry professional zip/veil suits in our vehicles. As I write this post, there is a nestbox of bees being drowned in a trash can. It was removed from my trail a few hours ago from a site which has bees every year. Therefore, two boxes are hung in the same tree: one for the Bluebirds and an extra for bees. Sometimes I'm lucky and the bees take the extra vacant box. Sometimes the bees take the active box. (Tonight's swarm took the empty box and the Bluebirds are still sitting on five warm eggs in the other.) If you do, in fact, have honeybees, write again and let me know if you are in the Africanized area. The beekeepers in our area are charging about $150 for even simple removals. You can easily contain a European swarm with minimal protection. If you are in an Africanized area, you can purchase a full-protection bee suit and do it yourself cheaper than a one-time "professional" removal. From: Bruce Burdett [mailto:blueburd"at"tds.net]
Christy in Sarasota, Again I would have to ask: Are you sure that these things are bees (honeybees) and not wasps or hornets? Wasps are often found in Bluebird boxes; hornets only rarely, in my experience. I've found hornets just once in 15 years; bees, never. Linda Violett says that honeybees, including the Africanized strain, often move into Bluebird houses out in California, where she is. Do they do that in Florida too? I don't know. Perhaps you should ask some experienced Bluebirders in your area if they've seen it happen. My own GUESS is that what you have is wasps. (Do you have a dozen or so (wasps)? or a couple of hundred (hornets)? or thousands (bees?) As I've said, when I have wasps I just scrape and squash,... it takes only a few seconds. (Actually it's safer to squash first, then scrape.) Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: ke4fej1
[mailto:ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com] Hi Bruce and All, First of all you have to remember there is no such thing in our area as an experienced Bluebirder. But this family is in their middle forties and runs a demolition business and operates a 100 acres of land with cows...working towards a fish farm. Plus she stated that they were going to have a honey bee area. So I think they know a little about nature out their way. I would think that they would know how to recognize a bee. She was not equipped to save the bees for her future hives at that time. I am not familiar with bees and have only see a few, but I would think we see enough Wasps to know the difference, and the hornets are pretty big. In checking the boxes weekly, a wasp starts a small nest and that usually is only about 3 holes big at most with maybe a couple of wasps around. If wasps and hornets make something faster and then are found in larger numbers I have never seen or heard of that happening in so little time. And yes, if they could be eliminated I would suggest that too. Actually I am more the knock down the nest and run type. If this Monitor was a 4-H youth or in their early twenties I might wonder if they did not know what they were seeing, but I have no doubt that what this Monitor saw was bees. I also don't think I will probably hear of it happening again either. Just one of those things. We do have lots of orange blossoms out here. So I only have 13 more years to get up to your 15 years of experience, but I probably will only be able to say I heard of it happening once. Linda has talked about her bees before and I am sure she really has them. It could be because they are up higher in the trees, and that the box is just too attractive to the bees...I guess they want homes too! If they come back I will mention for her to get a photo for us to see. My Monitors love to send photos of what is happening with their boxes. Christy Sarasota, FL Web Site http://ke4fej1.tripod.com/ From: Jim & Ann
Koehler [mailto:jimnann"at"midwestinfo.net] They're orchard bees. Jim Koehler From: HCybelle"at"aol.com Someone recently mentioned Vaseline jelly as a deterrent for paper wasps underneath the boxes...has anyone else had success with that? I was stung a few too many times last summer. Thanks, Holly Merker Downingtown , PA From: John Schuster
[mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net] From: rockets "at"mnsi.net There is a excellent article in the NABS Bluebird journal Summer 2004 From: Humbirdhill "at"aol.com [mailto:Humbirdhill "at"aol.com] FROM: Shane Marcotte Soaping ceilings as a wasp deterent?I checked a box yesterday and there had been a wasp nest on the wall of the box!
From: Humbirdhill"at"aol.com To: marco50"at"bellsouth.net Subject: Re: Building as fast as we can Yes, rubbing a bar of Ivory soap on the ceiling of nestboxes does seem to cut down on reoccurences. I have never had a bird of any kind nest in a box that has a wasp nest in it. Large nests of wasps can keep parents from feeding young. Year before last (unknown to us) wasps built a large nest in the stove pipe baffle of a box of Prothonotary Warblers. When the young would have been about a week old, I found the whole brood dead. Then the swarm attacked me & chased me for 20 feet. The only reason we could think of for the deaths was that the hateful wasps kept the parents away, like they did me. Shane, I would
guess that in your case the wasps built the nest after the
babies fledged. From: Shane&Emily Marcotte [mailto:marco50"at"bellsouth.net] Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 7:46 PM Subject: Re: Building as fast as we can There was also a huge yellow jacket nest in the stove pipe
baffle right under the hardware cloth.We had discovered it
while cutting grass last summer.I looked at it today(because
its cool now and they are gone) and boy, it was big.I bet there
had been about 30 of them in there.I will be building new boxes
soon and I'm gonna put the soap on the walls and ceiling.As
far as the baffle I guess I will have to keep a close eye on
it often and get them when they start.Any one else on the list
have baffle or nestbox wasp/yellow jacket problems?? From: Mary Beth Roen [mailto:mbroen"at"hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 8:50 PM Subject: Wasps/hornets in baffles ...I have stovepipe baffles with hardware cloth on all of my posts. I have occasionally had wasps building nests on the underside of the hardware cloth inside the baffle. I keep a can of Wasp/Hornet spray with me when I monitor my trail so I can spray them when I see a nest being built. From: Shane&Emily Marcotte [mailto:marco50"at"bellsouth.net] Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 9:52 PM Subject: Re: Wasps/hornets in baffles Does'nt seem safe to me to spray around the nestbox area.Would
this be o.k?I guess it may depend on the wind conditions ect. From: Mary Beth Roen [mailto:mbroen"at"hotmail.com] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 8:50 AM Subject: Re: Wasps/hornets in baffles My baffles are mostly 6 inches below the bottom of the box, and I spray just a short burst down into the hardware cloth in a direction away from the hole. I only do this if I get swarmed while checking the box, otherwise I wait until the nestlings have fledged and then take care of the wasps. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI From: Patricia Self [mailto:cself"at"elmore.rr.com] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 11:44 PM Subject: Re: nest This is the website: http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=17s4l5 [photo of nest inside baffle] Whatever it is, there are eggs waiting to become little beasties. Can anyone identify the nest? It's not a wasp nest, and it doesn't look like what I've seen of a hornet's nest (never saw one up that close). The main thing is to get it down and burn it, I would think. Patricia Self and the Ragdolls of Willow Creek in Deatsville, Alabama From: Humbirdhill"at"aol.com [mailto:Humbirdhill"at"aol.com] From: Patricia Self [mailto:cself"at"elmore.rr.com] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 4:22 PM Subject: Re: Building as fast as we can I wondered about that, since what we call "yellow jackets" around here are small and nasty little things that have nests underground. We know about that because my husband was weed-wacking several years ago and disturbed such a nest. I am so thankful that he's not allergic the way so many are, because he didn't call me at work, so I didn't find out about it until I got home, at which time he was miserable. Patricia Self and the Ragdolls of Willow Creek in Deatsville, Alabama From: Shane&Emily Marcotte [mailto:marco50"at"bellsouth.net] Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 5:12 PM Subject: Re: Building as fast as we can I've been doing some searches on hornets and yellow jackets.Compared to pictures what I have or yellow jackets.But all the information suggest that yellow jackets nest under the ground a few inches.The pic of the hornet was a bigger insect with different color.These are only about ½" long.They are smaller than what I refer to as red or paper wasp.There is also a type of wasp people here refer to as guenea wasp that are small.But their nest is paper like a paper wasp.These are also very aggressive compared to the usual paper(red) wasp.So I'm not shure now what they are.I can take a pic of the nest and it may help? Shane Marcotte Watson Louisiana From: Jeff Aufmann [mailto:jaufmann"at"ameritech.net] Around here we would call that a paper wasp nest. Jeff From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 8:55 AM Subject: Re:nest Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas If you look closely at the wasp nest it will be home to dozens
of other species of insects. You can clearly see in the photo
that several of the cells contain cocoon type webs of small
fly spiders. Many of these small spiders winter over and will
be in, on or near your nestboxes come spring. When a wasp nest is a danger to the bluebird monitor by all means remove them. Wasps are one of the most numerous predators of caterpillars. They kill and chew up insects or meat to feed their young. Their old nests are often used by several species of small solitary bees who normally nest in holes left in wood by wood boring insects. These bees can also be attracted by placing bundles of plastic drinking straws in sheltered locations. The bees fill up the drinking straw tubes with leaves and pollen for their young. These bees are essential in the pollination of the imported Hay crop called alfalfa. So the paper wasp nests you leave up next summer will often be used as a secondary cavity for other species. Also in this case I'll bet a parasitic wasp invaded this colony and that is why so many of the pupa failed to hatch out. We really can't be very selective when applying any pesticide without harming some other species....:-)) KK From: JOHN & BARBARA SIBIO [mailto:jsibio"at"comcast.net] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:27 AM Subject: Wasp nests We had an experience with wasps when we lived in Sonoma, on the edge of the vineyards. Our home was new, in a new development that was once a pasture and there were many insects in the area; (mainly ants!) One summer afternoon I went upstairs to my bedroom and saw a "bee" flying around. I wondered how it had gotten in, and let it out the window. Then I spotted another one, and another one and started to explore the room to find out where they were coming from. I discovered an inch and a half hole in the wall board above my bath tube, and the "bees" were coming out in a stream, like smoke! I closed off the room and called an exterminator right away. They arrived in a short time, dressed in moon suits and wearing tanks of pesticide on their backs. There I was in shorts and bare feet (I was younger then). They spray pesticide into the hole the wasps had made, and
then went up into my attic and sprayed up there also. I was
told it was a nest of wasps, and that I should be careful cleaning
them up because they could still sting (?) It was really gross
-- the bathtub was covered with dead bodies, and so were The exterminator said the wasps' saliva had dissolved our
wall board, which was no easy task, but to me it appeared to
have been chewed. I learned later that one of my neighbors
had been infested the same way that summer. I have endless stories about the ants! Barbara in Cloverdale, CA From: Patricia Self [mailto:cself"at"elmore.rr.com] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:45 AM Subject: Re:nest Wow! Thank you so much for a lot of great information. Aesthetically, I'd still be for getting rid of the nest, but you round out the information and make a person think twice about a quick fix. Patricia Self ...Deatsville, Alabama " From: lemerich [mailto:lemerich"at"epix.net] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:50 AM Subject: Re: Wasp nests I had a similar experience about 10 years ago. Came home form church to find the living room full of wasps. I found a small hole in the ceiling and it looked like paratroopers as the wasps came thru the hole. I taped the hole and got a can of wasp spary and headed for the attic. I could hear the buzz, but couldn't find the nest. I got a long pole and started moving insulation around. When I found the nest under the unsulation, it completely filled the space between 2 joists, from the center beam to the outside edge of the house - 14 1/2 inches wide and 14 feet long. Looked like the typical horror movie. I think it took 4 cans of Raid wasp spray to soak the nest. The nest is still there, cause it would have been a major issue to remove it. Fortunately I'm not allergic, but do have 2 brothers who are extremely allergic and carry kits with them all the time. Lynn From: Torrey [mailto:torrey_canyon"at"yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 5:31 PM Subject: kinda OT: hornets in the fall At least 3 different species of wasps/hornets use my nest boxes, & i remove them at all stages (resting adults & half-built nests & nests with eggs). There's nothing worse than checking a box & getting stung. I don't kill them, tho -- That'd be unfair to them. But specifically to hornets being particularly agressive in
the fall: Most hornets die off come the winter. By fall, their
regular food sources are getting scarce & they're getting
kinda desperate. This is when outdoor meals can become dangerous & when most people (who aren't near a nest) get stung. Unfortunately, knowing this doesn't eliminate the risks, so
enjoy beautiful fall picnics carefully. :-) From: Afinechef"at"aol.com Dear Torrey, Would you consider sharing with the Listserv how you successfully transfer the wasps/hornets that use your nestboxes without killing them? If you will, please give us the steps you use that allow this to occur. I think that the wasps serve an important environmental purpose, and would like to learn how to keep them alive. Perhaps there are others on the List that would like this information, as well. Thank you, Donna in Marlborough, CT From: Torrey [mailto:torrey_canyon"at"yahoo.com] Hi Donna & the list, I don't kill the adults hornets/wasps, but i'm sure the removed nests all fail. Sorry if i gave an impression otherwise. My trail is in a state park but is maintained by Kalamazoo Nature Center staff (which is me). The boxes are monitored weekly & everything gets written down, so when i'm out i've always got a pen. When it's colder, the wasps rest in the boxes, but they move pretty slowly. I use my pen to sweep them out the open door or to chase them out drainage holes in the floor. When it's warmer, & the wasps are building nests, i chase them with my pen or shake the box (with the door open) to scare them out. If they stay in to protect the nest, i poke at them with the pen so that they grab it & sting it, then flick them off. & then of course i toss the nest. Allen Bower (Mich Bluebird Society) designed a wasp scraper -- it looks a lot like an ice scraper for a car -- which is non-lethal (as long as the wasp's legs aren't trapped under the edge) & provides more hand protection to the user than just a pen. ...Torrey Moss Kalamazoo Nature Center Kalamazoo, MI From: Felix Swan [mailto:fdswan"at"conwaycorp.net] Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 7:34 PM Subject: Wasp & Hornet Stings With all the posts concerning stinging creatures such as
Ants, Bees, Hornets, Spiders, Wasps and etc. that you can encounter
while monitoring BlueBird Nest Boxes, I have to mention a product
that I sold while I was an owner of Fire Appliance & Safety
Co. of Little Rock, AR. The product is called "STING KILL".
It want stop the creator from biting or stinging you but it
will give immediate relief from the pain and swelling that
they cause. It is produced by Marion Health and Safety Co.,
a well known pharmaceutical company located in MO. In this day and time it is sold at most drug stores through out the USA. The product is a green liquid enclosed in a sealed glass tube with an external cotton swab at one end of the tube and all but part of the cotton is covered with a soft plastic coating. It can be squeezed and broken without the glass cutting your fingers and allowing the liquid to wet the cotton swab so you can apply it to the affected area of your skin. The individual applicators are smaller in diameter than a pencil and approximately an inch and a quarter long. They are attached to card board that is perforated so they can be individually separated and are all covered with clear plastic to keep them clean and sterile. Most of the time they are sold in pack of six or eight attached together. Utility meter readers and electrical power pole service personal have carried the product for years because they knew it is only a matter of time, when they would need to use STING KILL. A hazard of the job. From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 11:53 AM Subject: Re: gray squirrels and nestboxes Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. ...[response to email from Keith Kridler] When you state, "It only takes a 1" X 12" board 10 feet long to build a screech owl/kestrel/wood duck/honey bee nestbox.", I'm hoping you are not encouraging monitors to allow honeybees in their nestboxes. The honeybee is non-native and the honeybee on my trail is a vicious competitor of nestboxes and killer of bluebirds on my trail. If they decide on taking over an active nestbox containing bluebirds, it is a nightmare for the monitor to watch and frustrating to counteract. At the moment I have four swarms in nestboxes along my urban trail to remove and probably a few more in other boxes I haven't yet checked. If I were to be granted one wish to have a major problem solved on my trail by a nestbox genie, I would not ask for a magic solution to non-native House Sparrows ... my wish would be to rid my trail forever of the non-native Honeybee. From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 10:09 AM Subject: California honeybees and peaches Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Many monoculture croplands are excellent for our cavity nesters especially the ones who fly long distances to reach food and water resources or the ones whose prey is attracted to the particular crop! More than 1/3 of ALL of the different fruits and vegetables that humans eat everyday depend on the Imported Invasive European Honeybee. Nearly ALL of the fruits and vegetables we eat everyday were originally imported to the "New World" and evolved so that honeybees would pollinate them. Lets just take the "peach" tree in California. One species of peach tree is the number one $ producing agricultural crop in that state. (Any YOU thought it was WINE!) They produced more than 1 $ billion worth of exports in 2004 but they require THREE STRONG colonies of honey bees for every ACRE of trees planted. These trees are normally planted on a 20 foot by 20 foot spacing or about 125 trees per acre and produce about 750 pounds of "peach fruit" per acre IF you set out honeybee colonies so that there are 150,000 bees or more per acre. The problem with the honey bees in California is really all about this "peach" tree for in 1970 there were only 160,000 acres of these trees that required 480,000 hives and the number of acres is exploding with 550,000 acres of this peach in 2004. California bee keepers only have 500,000 hives in the entire state this year they NEED another 1 million hives trucked in this MONTH. These peaches are about to start blooming for the next two months and in early 1970 these peach farmers paid bee keepers $3 to $5 per hive to "rent" the hive for about three months. In 2004 there was a HUGE shortage of bee hives and prices
have climbed to When you look at these orchards they look like the perfect
habitat for bluebirds or robins with well groomed trees and
manicured green grass between the rows of trees. Originally
these trees grew in far western China and into the Mongolia
area and spread along the "Silk Route" throughout
Iraq and Iran all the way to Egypt. They were first introduced
to California in the mid 1750. Our government gave away the
trees and encouraged New Englanders and anyone living on the
East Coast to plant this tree in 1840. Anyway this peach is called an ALMOND tree that we grow for the seed and NOT the fleshy meat of the normal peach or plum. California will have 660,000 acres of Almonds needing over 2 million honeybee hives in three years as they are clearing more than 30,000 new acres a year in that state and planting small almond trees. Honeybees on the other hand are disappearing due to tiny mites (distantly related to the mites infesting some of our birds). The tracheal mite came into the USA in the 60's or 70's. The really bad one the Varoa mite came from Indonesia in the 1980's from bees the USDA certified "clean" and became resistant to the last pesticide that beekeepers are allowed to use in the hive to kill mites last year. Minnesota will only ship half the number of hives to California this January as they did last year because many of the big bee keeping companies were wiped out this past year due to the mites and will need another year to rebuild hive populations. North Carolina had 180,000 bee hives in 1991 and only 100,000 in 2003. We still need to treat the bee colonies with antibiotics for the American and European Foul brood a disease that kills millions of honeybees a year. Then much of the south is being invaded with the African Honey Bee so there is a ban on exporting from states infested with this strain. This just shows that whether you try to raise cavity nesters, meal worms, Almonds, honeybees or any other living creature there is ALWAYS something out there trying to "balance" nature and control excess numbers! I hate to tell Linda but there will be a huge increase in "wild" swarms of honey bees the next couple of years in California because people who have NO experience in keeping or handling Honeybees are slapping wooden bee boxes together and all they want is to pollinate their almonds and unmonitored bee boxes lead to over crowding in a few weeks and then a "swarm" will fledge and move off to find another "Cavity". VERY often a single hive will fledge three or four "swarms" (or more) and they carry only enough honey for a few days. For those of you who fledged cavity nesting birds this past year did you put up enough new boxes in the area for all of the "swarms" of young birds? Did you know that holly trees and bushes need honeybees to pollinate them and create a bumper crop of fruits for the birds in the fall? KK From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 1:14 PM Subject: Re: California honeybees and peaches Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, CA Keith, the information you provided on non-native honeybees,
non-native As far as an increase in beekeepers, it depends where you
live.
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BEST OF BLUEBIRD_L CLASSIFIEDS HOME | Audubon Society of Omaha | The Bluebird Box | Bluebird FAQs | Search | Contact meAll material was originally posted on the Bluebird_L or Bluebird mailing list, and has been reposted here with slight modifications to make the posts more readable in an HTML format. In cases in which quoted material has been deleted to save space, this is indicated by an ellipsis (...)For more information about Bluebird_L, check out http://www.cit.corn.edu/cit-pubs/email/using-lists/index.htm. If you wish to contact the author of a post, you will need to edit the e-mail address, replacing "at" with the "at" symbol (above the number 2 on your keyboard). (This change was made to discourage spammers.)If you are the author of a posting and would like to see a particular post (or posts) removed from these web pages, please contact me with the web page address, title of post, and date and time of the post(s), and I will remove whatever material you like. If you have a different opinion from one posted here, you need not contact me, as often I will have a different opinion too. The intent is to try and provide both sides to the issues facing bluebirders, and to do so in an impartial and objective manner.If you have problems, encounter broken links (unless they are within an e-mail thread, as I do not maintain those links), or have suggestions on how the site can be improved to make it more useful, please contact the Best of Bluebird-L Classifieds webmaster.Website design by
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