treatment free hives....? Do you open 'em?

[joker1656]

Maybe this answer should be evident, but for those of you that hold to the treatment free hives, do you ever open the brood nest?

If you do, why?  Not asking for any other reason than to learn.  I am trying to go treatment free.  Well, I am treatment free.  Still trying to get enough drawn foundationless combs in, but have not treated for anything.  That isn't saying much since this is only my 2nd season. 

If you discover EFB (which I think I have in one hive), or something, what do you do?  If you confine the queen, or some intervention...isn't that "treating"?  Do you just destroy that hive, or do you literally leave it "hands off"?

Just curious...learning as I go. 

[riverrat]

I don't treat. I try to make splits from my stronger hive. I limit getting into the brood frames as much as possible unless there is a problem. There is a difference between manipulation and treating. If you have or suspect you have efb. I would isolate the hive before it spreads to the other hives and distroy the hive. Just my 2 cents

[Kathyp]

i am not hands off.  when i say that i have not treated my hives, it does not mean that i do not manage my hives.  i have stopped using commercial mite treatments and have stopped using additives to feed.  i do still use things like lemongrass for swarm traps, and things like that.  i still use pollen patties in the spring.  i am not opposed to treating my hives if i needed to.  if i found that all hives were in trouble with a heavy mite load, i'd probably treat rather than lose them all.  i know that i will lose some over the winter or next year.  i know that some of the swarms i picked up came from treated pollination hives and they will have a hard time surviving without treatment.  even so...some of those hives have surprised me and done well without treatment in years past.

i have been fortunate not to have had disease other than chalkbrood and it was self limiting expect in one hive.  that hive ended up dying off eventually.

i do not see how you can evaluate the health of the hive and the queen if you do not look at what's going on.  i will say that i don't open them often now.  i only go through them top to bottom about twice a year.  other than that, i can usually tell all that i need to know by pulling a couple of frames.

[BeeHopper]

Yes.

I inspect the brood nest for the obvious reasons, but mainly to see how viable my queen is.

[cow pollinater]

Danny Weaver (of Bweever) told a family member of mine to close them up, walk away, and let the bees deal with it.  It might kill that hive but exposure to it will make your other hives deal with it and that keeps resistance to that particular problem strong in the colonies that live.
I'm not treatment free but I am a minimalist and my weever/treatment free stock does do better... I haven't seen foulbrood or dwv in two years.  I'm leaning towards not treating for anything this year.
That being said, yes, I open the broodnest but only if I see a need to.  I requeen once a year but other than that I can evauate what's happening from the front of the hive.

[Michael Bush]

Open as in inspect.  Of course.  Open as in keep it open so they don't swarm?  Of course.

[glenn c hile]

Though not a long time beekeeper, I have found that I can tell a lot about the status of the hive by just standing in front and watching the activity and popping the top for a peek.  If lots of bees coming and going especially with pollen I usually only crack the top to make sure they have available space.  If the activity is limited, I break it down and pull a few frames of brood to try to figure out what is going on.  Like Kathy I usually only go in once or twice a year for a complete inspection.

If you are unsure on the EFB I would send a sample into Beltsville for verification.  http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7473

[riverrat]

hil thats the way i do it. I have a newbee that I am mentoring this year. She doesnt get into the hive as much as I would like for her too. But she observes and reads. She wanted 1 hive. we cut a wall out of a barn and brought them home didnt get them moved into hive bodies in time so the hive swarmed now she has 2 hives. 2 weeks later she bought some used equipment put it into a lean to. a week later she had 2 swarms move into 2 different stacks of equipment. so she is now at 4 hives I dont think the 2 swarms came from the original hives they are only about 40 foot away. most newbees struggle to keep one or 2 hives she cant keep her numbers down

[joker1656]

Got it.