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|
Complaint
|
Symptoms
|
Possible Reason
|
Step(s) to be Taken |
|
1 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Workers do not exit or enter the hive. |
Flight hole not opened. |
Open hive, watch for bumblebee activity. |
|
2 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Low flight activity, workers do not return with pollen, remnants of pollen in colony. |
Pollen from shipment left in hive. |
Add additional hive or wait a few days, using manual pollination as a backup. |
|
3 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Workers do not fly, dead bumblebees in vicinity of hive |
No access to sugarwater. |
Check and correct balance of hive. Add a new hive. |
|
4 |
Hive slowing down or suddenly stops operating. |
Sharp decline in flight activity, bees remaining in hive. |
Sugarwater bag empty due to leaking. |
Put a new sugarwater unit. Add a new hive. |
|
5 |
Hive slowing down or suddenly stops operating. |
Sharp decline in flight activity. |
Old colony. Sugarwater completely used up. |
Add a new hive. |
|
6 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Bees make holes in the cotton covering and spray it with sugarwater for cooling. |
Hive overheated during transport. |
The colony is likely to recover; if this is the first hive in the field, replace it. |
|
7 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Parts of the colony moved from their places, leaky sugarwater, bees trapped between the bottom and the sugarwater unit. |
Rough transshipment of hive. |
The colony is likely to recover; if this is the first hive in the field, replace it. |
|
8 |
Hive does not start operating. |
Colony appears normal, a few dead larvae, workers do not leave hive. |
New U.V.- absorbing plastic sheets covering the greenhouse. |
Place the hive in the south/east, near the side of the greenhouse, exposed to direct- unfiltered sunlight. Recommend plastic covering which absorbs U.V. up to 360 nm. |
|
9 |
Hive does not start operating or decreases activity. |
“Lazy” behavior of workers. |
-Proximity to an active source of CO2 or exposure to CO exhaust from tractor or blower.
-Hive placed in hot location lacking ventilation. |
Remove source of CO2 or CO. Alternatively, relocate the hive in a ventilated, shaded place. |
