Today the varroa treatment at the Association Apiary ended so the theme of the session was giving the colonies appropriate quantities of 2:1 syrup. The syrup was treated with Hive Alive to prevent fermentation and other advantages claimed by the manufacturers. Whether the advantages outweigh the costs remains to be seen. My home colonies will be treated with Hivemakers thymolised recipe using the thymol/lecithin concentrate I made up earlier this year when giving the bees a springtime boost of 1:1 syrup to encourage comb drawing.
A combination of feeder types were employed today on the various hives. Miller feeders, large box sized plastic feeders, round rapid feeders and contact feeder. The usual problems of dribbling etc were observed with the contact feeders. Sadly one of the weaker hives was found to be dead. All stores had gone from the hive suggesting it had been robbed out.
My home hives are running a week behind the Association hives so I will be removing treatmeets and feeding them next weekend.
A combination of feeder types were employed today on the various hives. Miller feeders, large box sized plastic feeders, round rapid feeders and contact feeder. The usual problems of dribbling etc were observed with the contact feeders. Sadly one of the weaker hives was found to be dead. All stores had gone from the hive suggesting it had been robbed out.
My home hives are running a week behind the Association hives so I will be removing treatmeets and feeding them next weekend.
