WEED KILLER

Can we use weed killer to kill the grass around the hives so as not to disturb them with lawn mowers.....
Rich

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Well I do...I apply RoundUp weed spray just on dark.It is toxic to bees until it is taken up by the plant.Doing this reduces the chance of contamination and dead bees.The spray has been absorbed by the plant over night and as a result there are almost zero fatalities.

Works for me.

You can, but another nontoxic possibility is to throw a sheet of plywood or even some old cardboard with a brick on it in front of the hive to kill the weeds. The cardboard won't last as long as the scrap of plywood, but it's usually free and you're going to throw it away anyway.

Re killing weeds. I put down wood mulch. You can get it free to very cheap and works great.

I use old carpet cut's.turn it upside down( It's brown on that side.)It's free & you can find it most anywhere.It also last a long time.

I started using roundup last spring and sure am glad i did saves alot of time used to cut with lawnmower and weed wacker now i spray roundup once a month

>I use old carpet cut's.turn it upside down( It's brown on that side.)It's free & you can find it most anywhere.It also last a long time.

I've used the carpet. It helps a lot but some grass always grows through it. It's hard to beat free.

>I started using roundup last spring and sure am glad i did saves alot of time used to cut with lawnmower and weed wacker now i spray roundup once a month

If you want to spray for weeds, there are longer lasting versions of roundup type products that will last for a year instead of requiring spraying once a month. I've seen them in all of the hardward/department store lawn sections.

Just read the labels carefully.

All this talk about getting away from chemicals and people use roundup. If you want to spray something to kill the weeds and have some risidual use Vinegar.

That's why I recommend the cardboard, plywood or carpet, but some people have to spray. I would think the cardboard or plywood might also help with the small hive beetles getting into the ground, but I don't know how far they can crawl.

I use Hardiboard siding in 4x8 sheets. It holds up very well, doesn't rot, seems to hold its shape rather that warping. Any weeds outside of that area that annoy me get pulled by hand.