Friend up the road let me place hives at there for the season. I moved four from my apiary to his place and installed a package for a 5th. Went to check on them and all four hives that were moved have dysentery. None of my hives in my original apiary have it.
I know that moving a hive is stressful, but will it cause dysentery? If so, do I wait it out?
The hives all have screened bottoms and are off the ground (about 8") so have good ventilation.
http://www.medivetpharmaceuticals.ca/colonymanagement.htm (http://www.medivetpharmaceuticals.ca/colonymanagement.htm)
Scroll down a little to "Reduce Stress" . I dont know the 'hows' or the 'whys' I just know that the stuff works and hate losing hives if I can prevent it.
Anytime they are confined for very long they get dysentery.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnosema.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnosema.htm)
http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#nosema (http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#nosema)
K9 and Mr. Bush: Thanks for the input!
They weren't actually confined for very long, maybe 30 minutes, tops? But that's by my time clock, not the bees.
I went up this morning and was encouraged to see that the dysentery stains didn't look any worse that when I first found them. I used a mild bleach solution and washed the stains from the landing boards and covers. I'll go back tomorrow and see if any new stains are there.
All this stuff is fascinating, really. I've moved hives before and not had this happen, yet it happened now, in all four hives that I moved. Too bad the bees can't tell me why.