# How to control vegetation around hives?



## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

Do any of you spray Roundup at the base of your hives to kill the vegetation around them?


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## thenance007 (May 25, 2011)

Roundup is bad stuff. You can lay down flattened cardboard boxes and cover with mulch. Sprinkle on some hydrated lime to kill SHB larvae as they try to dig into the soil to pupate.


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## MichaelShantz (May 9, 2010)

My hives are on a platform on a hillside so I just use a weedeater from the downhill side reaching right up under the hive platform. The noise doesn't seem to bother them and I'm below their flight path so they ignore me (so far). I like Roundup, it kills the weeds then breaks down in the soil and turns into fertilizer. Great stuff.


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## wadehump (Sep 30, 2007)

I use mud flaps from big rigs that are laying alongside the highways.:thumbsup:


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## TRIMMAN (Apr 15, 2012)

i use roundup no problem


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## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

I have always used round up with no problems


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

we use roundup with no problems. works good for us but we dont hug trees.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I like the "no use of chemicals" ideas. I figure that I don't use chemical IN the hive, so I don't use chemicals OUTSIDE the hive.


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## bilder (Oct 7, 2012)

I use salt water. 

I quit using Roundup after reading some of the stuff Monsanto, the company that makes it, has done to farmers who refuse to buy their products. Monsanto owns the patent on most of the GMO corn and soybeans out there and will hound any farmer who tries to stop buying their product or even thinks about harvesting their own seeds rather than buy them year after year from Monsanto.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Roundup is a brand name for glyphosate herbicide manufactured by Monsanto. But Monsanto's patent on glyphosate *expired *years ago. You can buy *generic glyphosate* from many sources without contributing _one penny_ to Monsanto's coffers. Here's one example:

http://www.tractorsupply.com//Produ...p_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10151

Glyphosate is very safe to use around bees. Most formulations do have a small amount of surfactant (detergent) in the mix to reduce surface tension and get a finer spray. Spraying a large amount *directly *on bees can kill them, but it is the surfactant that is the issue, just like spraying soapy water on bees will kill them.


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## dadandsonsbees (Jan 25, 2012)

I use Roundup,Spectracide, Weed-B-Gone. I have not had any adverse effects on the bees. These are Herbicides not Insecticides. I do the spraying at night or late evening when there is no activity at the hives and am careful not to have any overspray drifting into the hive. I figure these precautions prevent any overspray comming in contact with the bees due to the odor of these chemicals agravating the bees.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

Thanks for the answers. I figured I would get blasted for asking such a question, but looks like several of you use it. I will be too.


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## thenance007 (May 25, 2011)

I used to use Roundup until the studies have emerged in the past couple of years about how it stays in the soil for over 20 years and now recently, long term effects on human health:

http://www.rodale.com/roundup-dangers

I also was going to switch to a generic due to not wanting to support Monsanto, but every generic I've been able to find is made by Monsanto.


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## khicks12 (Feb 28, 2012)

I bought a bag of cheap water softener salt and spread it around under the hives. It kills vegetation and hopefully give the shb a hard time too.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

Lay old carpet around the hive; works great.


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## CaBees (Nov 9, 2011)

I use old plywood boards.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

We use straight (i.e. non-diluted) white vinegar in a weed sprayer bottle. Works extremely well. About $1.50 a gallon, non-toxic, doesn't support corps like Monsanto......


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## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

I stated that I use roundup but actually as many here do I use glyphosate It is way cheaper. 
Roundup concentrate is about 29.00 a qu. 
glyphosate I get for 26.00 a 2 1/2 gallon jug


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## John D. (Sep 5, 2007)

My hives are 18" off the ground. I use a generic known as Eraser with no problems.


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## jdmidwest (Jul 9, 2012)

Garden clippers.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

For those thinking that glyphosate is benign, a brand new study by MIT shows that contrary to what Monsanto says, it DOES persist in our food supply and it can cause serious health problems for humans http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2013/ingredient-in-roundup-weed-killer-found-in-food/


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I went to top entrances and stopped worrying about the growth in front of the hive...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopentrance.htm


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## Ledge (Dec 15, 2010)

westernbeekeeper said:


> Lay old carpet around the hive; works great.


+1 That's what I do as well. And use one of these:


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

BigDawg said:


> For those thinking that glyphosate is benign, a brand new study by MIT shows that contrary to what Monsanto says, it DOES persist in our food supply


You said "a brand new study by MIT". Hardly. Of the two authors of the study, one works at the "Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT". No doubt a highly respected _*Computer Science*_ researcher, but what does that have to do with human health, glyphosate or bees?

The other author claims to be an "Independent Scientist and Consultant in Deerfield, NH". Gee, that is a fine set of MIT credentials! He doesn't even have an MIT email address! :lpf:

And at the end of the actual "_study_":



> Acknowledgements: This work was funded in part by Quanta Computers, Taipei, Taiwan, under the auspices of the Qmulus Project. We thank *three reviewers* whose valuable comments led to a much improved version
> of this paper.


In spite of listing lots of "references", *NONE *of those three reviewers were identified!. Perhaps they were ashamed to have their names associated with this study!



:ws:


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> You said "a brand new study by MIT". Hardly. Of the two authors of the study, one works at the "Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT". No doubt a highly respected _*Computer Science*_ researcher, but what does that have to do with human health, glyphosate or bees?


I thought the same thing - on all your points. 30+ pages of referencing and conjecture, IMO. Good luck to anyone hoping to gain an understanding from this publication.


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## R Dewhurst (Dec 22, 2012)

I plan on just landscaping mine. Black plastic down with mulch on top for the area.


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

I use roundup, and it is not bad stuff. The hipe about roundup is pure BS. It is one of the safest ag chemicals out there.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> You said "a brand new study by MIT". Hardly. Of the two authors of the study, one works at the "Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT". No doubt a highly respected _*Computer Science*_ researcher, but what does that have to do with human health, glyphosate or bees?




The article was received by the publication in January of this year and just now published in April. I'd call that pretty new.......the lead author has several degrees from MIT...perhaps new study by MIT researcher would have been more accurate....



> The other author claims to be an "





> Independent Scientist and Consultant in Deerfield, NH". Gee, that is a fine set of MIT credentials! He doesn't even have an MIT email address! :lpf:


"Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant from Arthur D. Little, Inc. Samsel is a former private environmental government contractor as well as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/roundup-herbicide-health-issues-disease_n_3156575.html Arthur D Little is one of the world's leading consulting firms with offices in 23 countries......

Stefanie Seneff has a degree in Biophysics and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT and has authored over 200 publications. http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/



> In spite of listing lots of "references", *NONE *of those three reviewers were identified!. Perhaps they were ashamed to have their names associated with this study!


It is quite common for the reviewers of peer-reviewed papers to remain anonymous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review#Anonymous_peer_review

The journal Entropy is well-respected scientific journal that has won numerous awards. I think the article is highly relevant regardless of nit-picking the authors and other details.....

NP


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## Mrobisr (Mar 10, 2012)

If glyphosate scares you then go to your local feed store and buy a 50# bag of loose stock salt and spread.


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## trance (Mar 29, 2013)

I changed my answer, having a bad day so best if I keep some of my comments to myself.

I use Pinestraw


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## Spark (Feb 24, 2011)

I use mulch on mine but I have some in a hay field and I use a weed wacker.


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## rmcpb (Aug 15, 2012)

Just mow it with a weed eater in the evening. Doesn't seem to worry the bees and keeps the fire danger down.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I close the bottom entrance down and open the top entrance.

If something gets so tall as to rub against the box, I pull it.

I like simple, and I don't like chems.


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## MichaelShantz (May 9, 2010)

The reason that top entrances don't solve the weed problem in our area is "Argentine ants". Any grass or weed that grows tall enough to get past my ant moats and leans against the hive is a superhighway for ants.

OT philosophy: When people get famous, others start shoving cameras and microphones at them. They then conclude that they must be a genius on every subject and hold forth with confidence. I encourage everyone with common sense to keep up the whack-a-mole on whackos. Hey, wait a minute, I have a PhD from Caltech in computer science, I must be an expert on genetic engineering.


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Last year I just mowed, not problems. This year, first time tonight, and the bees in one hive got agitated and one of them head-butted me repeatedly after I was done mowing and was going over to the gate near the hives to spray my neighbor's grapes.

May have to either mow near the hives first, before the "new" mower starts blowing oil smoke, or just pull the weeds, they don't bother me near the hives.

I'll be keeping any eye on that fussy hive -- I'm building more bases up on the hill about a hundred yards away, and if they are going to get aggressive they will go up the hill, less disturbance and a nice hedge between them and the neighbors.

Hopefully fussy means more honey, but they were the laggard hive last year. I'll find out tomorrow, it's inspection day.

Peter


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## MurphyBee (Apr 8, 2013)

Just a newbee here and I have a problem near my new hives (set up March 30)....wild blackberry vines and other unknown weeds growing up around and under my hives. I am thinking that I will use the black plastic and mulch method and wonder if doing so will maybe have a detrimental effect on those "blank" SHB or is this wishful thinking? They drop to the ground to pupate in the soil, so if they can't get to the soil, can't pupate. Is my thinking wrong? At any rate, got to do something about the weeds and hoped to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Any thoughts? Been afraid to use the weed eater too close and that only whacks off the top and in a week or so, must be done again.
Thanks 
Murphy


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Beregondo said:


> I close the bottom entrance down and open the top entrance.
> 
> If something gets so tall as to rub against the box, I pull it.
> 
> I like simple, and I don't like chems.



I don't like chems either, but if I took this approach, I'd be covered with ticks on a daily basis. Keeping the grass low is more about my safety than for the bees.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

MichaelShantz said:


> Hey, wait a minute, I have a PhD from Caltech in computer science, I must be an expert on genetic engineering.


:lpf: Thanks for the chuckle.


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

Does anybody run chickens under their beehives? Should help with vegetation, should help with ticks, perhaps they would scratch under the hives and dig out and eat small hive beatle pupa, they might even eat ants. Although I hear that those ants that you guys in the south contend with are a much different item than the ants around here. On the downside the chickens might eat some bees also.
Bill


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

May I suggest to those that are using black plastic then mulch, switch to landscape fabric instead. Water (rain) on top of plastic will lead to the mulch floating then running off. 
I like to do things once. The landscape fabric will allow the rain to soak through AND won't let vegetation grow under it.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Does anybody run chickens under their beehives?

Mine have always been free range. There is no space, however, UNDER my beehives...


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

Weed eater until it gets hot and dry. Usually once or twice will take care of it.


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## Pineywoods (Apr 29, 2013)

I'll second the landscape fabric. I use a commercial grade 6' fabric and it does a pretty good job of stopping the weeds.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

Here's an article from the Huffington Post entitled Roundup: Birth Defects Caused by World's Top Selling Weed Killer, Scientists Say

Here's one called "Worse Than DDT: When You Eat This, It Ends Up Lingering in your Gut"

Here's one called "Monsanto's Roundup and Roundup Ready Corn Found to be Toxic in Rats"

I could easily find about 100 more, but they're probably all idiots.

Whatever the case, I'll skip the Roundup and use some old black rubber roofing I got from a junkyard.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

My biggest problem with using roundup is that eventually something is going to grow back and more often than not its something undesirable. Pallets (just 5 inches or so higher can make a huge difference) and either a hand scythe or weed eater is a pretty good program.


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## postie (Oct 15, 2011)

Skip the Monsanto chemicals...lawn mower and weedeater for me and the bees are fine with it.


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## dixieswife (Apr 15, 2013)

For those who don't like to use Roundup/Roundup knock offs, how do you deal with poison oak by the hives? Will landscape fabric smother it out like other weeds?


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## BayHighlandBees (Feb 13, 2012)

poison oak = good honey source, wouldn't want to touch it though


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## khicks12 (Feb 28, 2012)

. . . and you don't think black rubber roofing will degrade into the ground, pollute the environment, be toxic in rats, linger in your gut . . .?


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## beekid (Nov 20, 2012)

weed eating in the bee line is always fun.


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## dixieswife (Apr 15, 2013)

BayHighlandBees said:


> poison oak = good honey source, wouldn't want to touch it though


That's just it, it's where we'll touch it. I don't want to nuke every bit of poison oak everywhere, just where we're likely to encounter it while marching around there. I'm not sure if I'm sensitive to it but my husband is. We're looking to do spot treatment just to keep a smaller area clear of it and these super awful little burr plants.

I had no idea poison oak was a honey source. I've never seen any of it here in bloom.


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