Bee Gym
Featuring specifically designed grooming aids; The Bee Gym is a framework of wires together with flippers and scrapers that help the bees to remove mites from backs and abdomen. The Bee Gym chemical free, hard wearing and no on-going costs, making it a highly economical investment.
The Advantages of Bee Gym
- Chemical Free: Bee Gym is a physical grooming aid for bees.
- Economical: Bee Gym has high durability and no on-going costs, making it a highly economical investment.
- No extra apiary visits: Bee Gym can be left in the hive all through the year.
- Specific: foragers returning with full pollen baskets choose to avoid the Bee Gym, so there is no risk of pollen being lost.
- Sustainable: Bee Gym encourages the natural grooming behaviour of honeybees, resulting in more hygienic colonies, better able to manage varroa infestations.
- Integrated: Bee Gym is an ideal component in an Integrated Pest Management approach to varroa control.
Tips for Use
- Position the Bee Gym in a busy part of the colony, about 2 cms back from the hive entrance or on top of the brood frames in a shallow ‘eke’ or spacer.
- Use a sticky floor (coat a white piece of paper or cardboard with vaseline) to observe mite drop. These should be refreshed regularly.
- OR Use the Bee Gym with an open mesh floor so that the varroa mites drop out of jumping reach of the hive.
- Leave a space between the hive entrance and the Bee Gym so that pollen-laden foragers are able to avoid the framework.
- Move the Bee Gym around the hive when convenient so that it stimulates more interest from the bees.
- Leave the Bee Gym in place throughout the year as it improves grooming behaviour, helping bees to rid themselves of varroa mites.
- Ensure there is sufficient gap (at least 15 mm) for bees to move around the Bee Gym to fully utilise it.
- Clean the Bee Gym with washing soda periodically to remove excess propolis. Don’t worry if the bees propolise the frame a little – the grooming flippers and scrapers will not be affected.
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