Debris Tray

[John B]

I've been using a front-loading debris tray made of 1/4" plywood to clean and inspect the bottom of the hive without taking the boxes off.
Here's a link to the Debris Tray page on my site...
https://sites.google.com/site/tranquilbeekeeping/equipment-and-gadgets/debris-tray

[John B]

Hi everyone,
This debris tray is very interesting. I've been inspecting and cleaning it at least once per week. I count the dead bees and count the dead mites and take good notes. Later in the winter I will publish the average daily dead bee and dead mite count for, say, each month. Right now I don't know what these counts mean. I don't have experience to know what tray counts are good or bad.
But, here's something that could be very interesting... I noticed on the tray that you can see tiny particles. I assume these tiny particles are wax particles from the bees uncapping and consuming honey. You can tell where (horizontally) and how big the cluster is by the distribution of particles on the tray. Could this turn out to be valuable information? For instance, if you knew there were still plenty of live bees but the particles on the tray slowed or ceased does that mean they are almost out of honey and you should feed? Or, better yet, the opposite - I see particles so I can relax and not feed because I know they still have honey? I don't know.
If others in the group try this debris tray please share your observations and correlations between tray observations and what's actually going on in the hive. This could be a very simple, free and non-invasive way to get information.
John

https://sites.google.com/site/tranquilbeekeeping/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "madbees" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to madbees+u...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Joseph Bessetti]

Hi John,

 

You'll find the cappings from consumed honey and you'll also see cappings from any brood that has emerged.  If you inspect carefully, you may be able to use the color and texture of the fragments to distinguish between the two and determine when they have raised brood.  You might also see sugar crystals from any honey that crystallized in the comb.

I agree that this can be an interesting way to get intelligence on what's happening in the hive, but I think it could be tricky figuring out how to use it effectively.  In a top bar hive, where the cluster moves horizontally, it would be easier to estimate how much capped honey is left based on the cluster location.  In a vertical hive you also need to know where the cluster is in the stack.  

Joe

---

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2015 16:29:33 -0600
Subject: Re: [madbees] Debris Tray
From: tranqu...@gmail.com
To: mad...@googlegroups.com

[Marcin]

I used to be more vigilant about checking the slide in boards in the past. It was a good learning tool. I used the collected debris to try and determine where the cluster is and how much it's eating and how much is left. Checking the debris, along with using plexiglass inner cover ( I don't use it anymore ) to see where the cluster is located, and hefting the hive from the back, gave me an "idea" as to what might be happening inside the hive. I stopped doing it once I got more hives and yards. But for someone with a couple of hives in their backyard, it might be useful if you know how to interpret what you're seeing. I thought I knew, but who knows....

[John B]

Attached is a chart of the winter 2015/16 debris tray data from my bee hive (basically a strong nuc). I counted/charted adult bees, mites, pupa and hive beetles. I also charted the daily high and low temps (I'm in Point). By back-dating after finding the first pupa of the winter I estimate the colony started rearing brood Jan 1st. In January, the dead pupa had a lot of DWV. That cleared up in February. The colony is alive today and looks good.

John