Twice now I have found black widows under or around my hives. Anyone else got a lot of spiders?
No black widows here but I have seen a few banana spiders putting webs around my hives.
No widows for me, but definitely spiders. It's that time of year, and I can barely walk up to the hives without getting caught in webs. We have a lot of orb-weavers, the big orange marbled ones (we call them jack-o-lantern spiders) and some crazy black spiny orb-weavers (give them a google if you've never seen them). Lots of harvestmen too, although they aren't really spiders. I often find spider webs built in strategic positions to try and catch bees. Any that are successful I of course tear down.
I get a lot of jumpers (wolf) spiders in the tops are of my hives. I leave them there. They eat SHBs. Black widows like cool damp locations. They are usually found under the hive.
Jim Altmiller
Black and brown widows for me, also the wolf in the lid and scorpions in my lids, I leave them all, doing there jobs. We also have golden orb weaver? Banana spider they come down in my way
Found one under a hive last year.
Back when I put the hives on concrete blocks for stands I found them in the hollow of the concrete blocks often. Not anymore.
I don't know what to look for but it gives me the creeps to mow under the banana trees. We still get spiders and lizards inside the lanai after re-screening. I would have thought they would have starved.
Well. Maybe it is just this year. I killed the two I found.
I have seen lots of black widows this year, not just around the apiary, but around the house too. In my AC condenser, power panel, shrubs, window wells, etc etc. I rarely use insecticides, but this year I have made an exception.
You havent had fun until you walk through a banana spiders web after dark, that is the stickiest web I know of.