A true chemical free

[BeeCurious]

beecrazy101,

When are you planning on having "true chemical free bees"?

There may be an "elephant in room" that's being ignored...

[beecrazy101]

I was wanting to have them completely frameless by the end of this season.
I may have to feed them a little but don't want to if I can avoid it.
Sugar and brood builder or syn. Pollen have chemicals in them.
What is your take? Thanks. Dan

[jmgi]

beecrazy101, you need to put some kind of a comb guide in the top bar of the frame to give the bees something to follow so you get straight comb. I use grooved top bar frames, so I just cut strips of wood 1/8" x 3/4" x 16 1/2" and glue them into the grooves. They always seem to follow it just about perfectly when drawing comb. You really need to keep an eye on them at first to make sure they get started out right, check them every couple days if you can. John

[Solomon Parker]

It depends on your definition of 'chemicals.' All matter is technically made of chemicals.

[Specialkayme]

It depends on your definition of 'chemicals.'

. . . not again . . .

[beecrazy101]

Thanks john. I am going to use that or popsickle sticks. Definitely going to glue them. Yes technically everything is a chemical. I am going for the natural beekeeping letting the bees do what the bees do. I am going cypress hives with no paint. Going to get them to go with foundationless frames. No queen excluder. No treatments. No sugar or pollen substitute. I am not going to.starve my bees by no means just want them to do it as naturally as possible just like if they were building in tree a tree.

[beecrazy101]

And technically u can say that the glue is a chemical.

[Solomon Parker]

. . . not again . . .

No one is forcing you to read. How about you take the day off.

[BeeCurious]

I bought some of Don's bees my first year too...

Just know that some of what Don does, or has done wouldn't be considered chemical free.

I would have concentrated on getting some good 4.9 foundation drawn out before moving on to foundationless. My work schedule and the distance to some of my hives made "baby sitting" bee frames impractical.

The only treatment (besides sugar dusting) I ever used was thymol in the fall feeding. That was in the fall of '08 and '09. Don has used thymol and or fgmo fogging at some time.

I think it has already been suggested ... get some nuc equipment.

[Specialkayme]

How about you take the day off.

Wow Sol. Take it easy.

[beecrazy101]

Thanks BeeCurious. I have two nucs which I had for splits. So you are saying to go ahead with Dons bees with foundations and when I split go ahead and start with foundations and fade them out to foundationless. Get good small cells and go from there. I am going to be putting them right behind my house in my deer food plot which is going to be planted year around.

[jmgi]

beecrazy101, if you are against using glue you could melt beeswax and pour it into the grooves on the top bars and stick the comb guide strips into that to hold it. John

[adamf]

So I am going for a true chemical free hive.
I was wondering who has gone totally chemical free and what suggestions u could
give me. Thanks

We've had good luck by using and making queens from stock that shows mite tolerance/mite resistance.
This is an elegant and effective component to being totally chemical free, and treatment free.

Adam Finkelstein
www.vpqueenbees.com

[robherc]

...if you are against using glue you could melt beeswax and pour it into the grooves on the top bars and stick the comb guide strips into that...

I've found that, with my equipment @ least, it works really well to put a 1/16"-1/8" thick strip of 3/4" wood (left over from milling my own top bars) into a center groove on the bars that's at least 1/4" deep, then drive several brads though the top-bar, pinning the "guide" into place. It should be pretty easy to use that method with the "wedge" in a Lang. frame, holds the guide in as tightly as just about any glue (I had a couple problems with waxed-in guides falling out in hot weather), but the only artificial substance used is the steel in the brads.

[sqkcrk]

If I may, there is no "true chemical free", there is only ones' own personal standard. Keep your bees as best you can and don't spend a lot of time worrying what others call something.

[beecrazy101]

There may not be true chemical free how about natural? I am not going to use treatments nor feed if I can help it. It may take a year to get my bees where I want them to bee, but I am going to get them there. My preferred care is to let the bees do what the bees do. Don't get obsessed by technicality, nor by definition. The weakening of bees natural immune is the intro of every type of chemical one for this and one for that. Just let them live like they have for thousands of years. They know how to take care of themselves just like we know how to take care of ourselves. I'm not going to try to be organic just no chemicals are going to be intro into my hives by me.

[sqkcrk]

Not to argue symantics too much, but "natural" would be leave alone beekeeping to me. Buy bees and throw them ina box and let them naturally do what they will do. Or, just enjoy bee trees.

[beecrazy101]

I posted for the response of some help. Thanks to all for the good advise. I will post more and hope to get good advise from good beekeepers. Thanks again. Dan

[StevenG]

Dan, as a treatment free beekeeper myself, I do not really consider myself to be chemical free, as I will occasionally feed syrup, and HBH. One concern though, what are you going to do about the small hive beetle, and how does that fit into your plan to be chemical free?
Regards,
Steven

[robherc]

What are you going to do about the small hive beetle, and how does that fit into your plan to be chemical free?

Nematodes will eat the SHB larvae in the ground when they pupate;
"Squishing the buggers" is pretty "chemical free;"
SHB traps with a little natural oil (olive, corn, soy, canola, etc.) to drown them in would prob. work within most definitions.

...it's slightly ot, but those would be my 1st 3 thoughts.