Weed Control for Beekeepers

 

Indea in my field of dandelions

Beekeeping is full of conundrums, and trying to maintain an all-natural yard without having your neighbors completely hate you is definitely one of them. I have been fortunate that no one has complained (yet) about my beautiful crop of dandelions!

I too, can appreciate a nice yard and control over the non-flowering, non-nectar producing weeds. At the moment, my yard has an over-abundance of these less desirable plants. My first plan of attack was to pull out, by the roots, these non-contributing intruders. But after the first couple hours, having hardly made a dent, I decided to search for other options.

Roundup weed killer

You don’t have to look much farther than your local hardware store or garden center to find a quick and easy solution. I’m sure nobody has missed the negative hype that surrounds this popular product. Not only is it extremely harmful to honey bees and other pollinators, it’s been proven to not be too healthy for us either … but that’s for another blog.

So, what to do? I had read about a recipe that is ‘guaranteed to kill weeds’. It sounded simple enough. I thought I’d give it a try and aim for an only-the-weeds-I-want type yard.

A fabulous invention!

I bought a pressurized sprayer as my yard is too overrun for a handheld spray bottle to do the trick. This is an absolute must and I can’t believe I have never owned one before!

The recipe calls for four liters of plain white vinegar. If vinegar is such an effective weed killer … should I really be putting it in my beets to make pickles?? Something for future pondering …

Two cups of Epsom Salt was the next ingredient. Epsom Salt is good for just about everything; why not weed killing as well!

And finally, a half cup of ‘blue’ Dawn dish soap. Not sure what’s in this, but it shows up a lot in ‘deep cleaning’ recipes.

With my weed killer mixed, the pressure sprayer filled and pressurized, I headed out to do battle with the weeds invading my wooden walkways and flowerbeds.

This was the result only four hours later! The weeds are looking dry and turning brown. I’m very happy with the results and can’t wait to mix another batch and continue on.

With this effective recipe, I don’t have to live with unwanted, invasive weeds, nor do I have to spray with harsh chemicals that hurt/kill pollinators, can make my dog sick, and are harmful to the environment and me. I can rest assured I’m not harming the pollinators that visit my yard and the honey bees that live here are not being poisoned by the very food they eat. (Something we all need to think about.)

Butterfly sipping nectar on a dandelion

This is the hive in my yard. I checked it yesterday to find a very productive queen bee at work. The population is still low, but considering the trauma they endured, they’re doing quite well. You can still see the muddy bear paw print on the bottom box.

Honey bee hive that survived the bear attack

Bears and Bees

Courtney and Joel with setup split hives

Two of Bee Whyld’s hives came through the winter particularly strong. When this happens, there is always the chance of an early swarm. To prevent this occurrence, and to hang onto our bees, we split both of these strong hives.

To split, a couple frames full of brood (capped larva), along with the attending nurse bees, were moved from the strong hive into an empty brood box. Frames with honey and pollen were also added, including the bees present on these frames. A queen bee, still in her cage, was the final addition. These two new hives were moved to the farm.

The following day, the doors were removed from the queen cages allowing the workers access to eat through the ‘candy’ and release their new queen. She will begin to lay eggs and a new colony will be in fair shape by the time the Fireweed blooms.

Or so we thought … Unfortunately, someone had other plans …

 

Yukon black bear

After a call about a bear in the hives, Liz was recruited to check the damage. Armed with her bee suit, a fresh super of honey, and a large can of bear spray, she ventured out.

This is the scene that greeted her upon her arrival.

 

Bear devastated honey bee hives

Despite popular belief, bears aren’t after the honey as much as they are after the protein-filled larva. Honey is simply a sweet bonus.

Damage assessed and slowing putting it back together

Numerous frames were broken and the foundation removed. Some were licked so clean you would not have known there had been wax, larva, pollen and honey there only a few short hours before.

All the brood has been eaten by the bear

Here is one of the partially gnawed on frames. A lot of the wax and honey are gone, as is the entire brood. The yellow is some remaining pollen.

Lots of dead bees litter the area

You can also see piles of valiant worker bees that died trying to save their hive. Even though the bees would have attacked the bear’s face. They are not much of a match for a hungry bear.

Smart bees saved their queen under the pallet

Beginning the job of cleanup, Liz spotted a small group of bees under the pallet. If one of the queens survived, there would be hope of putting at least one hive back together. As she gently scooped the bees and placed them in a reconstructed box, the queen bee flew up and landed on her face screen! Despite a very cautious attempt, the queen flew away before she could catch her. With thoughts of simply returning the surviving bees to their original hive, the clean up continued.

A queen cage

Under an overturned lid … a queen cage … a wet, dirty, no doubt traumatized, but still alive, queen inside. Liz opened her cage and into the hive with the remaining bees she went.

Their new home

The surviving bees and queen in a reconstructed hive safe from bears (I hope) in my yard.

The queen bee 

A day later, dry and clean, our queen with her attendants and other workers surrounding her.

The season has just begun and hopefully this colony can make a complete recovery after a disastrous start.