How To Protect Your Hive Without Chemicals
Beekeeping is a noble venture — especially with wild honeybee populations in decline — but sometimes the very chemicals used to preserve your hives can actually hurt them in the long run, or at very least get into the honey you harvest. Here are some simple and easy natural alternatives to using chemicals that, instead of harming your hive, help prevent and solve everyday beekeeping problems.
Protect Against Ants
Ants are a beekeepers’ Enemy No. 1. Rather than spray the surrounding area with products that could easily harm your hive, try the simpler solution of putting your hive on a stand with legs.
Inch-thick, five-inch tall legs will severely limit how easily ants can try to invade your hive. While this won’t entirely solve your ant problem, it will make the next steps much easier. Simply monitor the legs for ants and place a small ring of cinnamon around each leg to stop ants in their tracks. Cinnamon can also trap bees, but if you create only small circles with it, then you’ll certainly lose fewer bees to it than you would to a full-blown ant invasion.
It should be noted that this method is susceptible to rain and heavy winds, but simply reapplying the ring of cinnamon after it has been wiped away will be enough to protect your hive.
Fight Harmful Insects
Harmful insects are another common reason why beekeepers use chemical products. The idea is that you’ll curb the insect population by spraying, but you’ll actually only end up harming your own hive in this process. Just as other insects can exist within an overall healthy city, they can also exist in a healthy colony without presenting the need to kill countless bees.
If your hive is suffering from an infestation, then try feeding your bees a syrup with infusions made with certain Doterra oils. These oils can help repel insects, which will quickly reduce their numbers in your hive. The cherry on top? When your bees eat this syrup, they’ll pass the oils along throughout the hive until it reaches the larvae.
Nobody wants to hurt their bees, so try these natural alternatives to harmful chemicals. You’ll not only find your hive’s population staying more stable, but you may also notice that your bees seem less stressed and aggressive without the threat of harmful chemicals looming over them.