1st inspections

[MrPea]

Weather is set to hit 19-21 today...are most still holding off on inspections, or is now a good time to start going in? Should we be starting on syrup feeding now? It's hard to know what to so this year

 

[Cuddly Bear]

I'm planning 1st inspection today. The weather forecast here in Oxford is for mostly cloudy with 12°c as a high. Bees have been flying when they can, so I'm hoping all is ok. If everything is good I will put a new brood box on top and replace the fondant with syrup to encourage them to draw out the foundation. It will all depend on what I find when I open them

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[Erichalfbee]

A week ago accuweather forecast 16/17˚ and sunny spells so planned my first proper look in. Today it is 8˚, windy and raining. Similar for the rest of the week, but I would be looking now if I could.

 

[oliver90owner]

It is the middle of April. Everyone should know that 1:1 is the way to go. There is still no need for intrusive inspections, other than checking on queen status.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just making some up

 

[Bob Bee]

It is the middle of April. Everyone should know that 1:1 is the way to go. There is still no need for intrusive inspections, other than checking on queen status.

I always did use 1-1 for 'spring boosting' back in the days when I was previously bee-keeping, accepted wisdom etc. Since I've been back bee-keeping I've been looking for some evidence for things before I automatically do them again.
Lots of beeks( some on here ) don't bother with 1-1 at all now, at any time, just 2-1. Thinking if they need feeding feed 2-1 if they don't need feeding , dont feed.
Oliver, is there anything, other than heresay, that supports the feeding 1-1 to encourage spring build up ?

 

[Finman]

I Oliver, is there anything, other than heresay, that supports the feeding 1-1 to encourage spring build up ?

There are scientific evidences that syrup feeding does not encourage spring build up. It is so clear. Only which helps is protein feeding.


20 years ago I tried too encourage spring build up with sugar feeding, but I got nothing.

It is hard to draw anything from nothing.

Spring build up takes 6 months or more. You cannot feed syrup all the time. Hive will be filled with sugar.

http://www.globalpatties.com/pages/articles/nutrition.htm
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[Heather]

I have diluted down some hardened fondant into syrup feed but all have pollen patties on.
First decent day -17d -and all flying so am leaving them to settle and if weather ok in 5 days may see what queen progress is to evaluate hive health.

 

[domino]

Went to do an inspection today temperature was fine but it was blowing a gale. So no deal

 

[victor meldrew]

Same here ,all hives flying in spite of wind and frequent showers!
VM


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[sunshinemedic]

Conditions just good enough for a quick inspection of my stronger hive. Nice and warm but on the breezy side. Bees across 10 frames, brood across 2. Pollen and honey stores ok.

Did not open my weaker hive cos I reckon they need all the warmth they can get.

 

[Cuddly Bear]

Just got back from the Apiary. Temperature was warmer then the forecast and the rain held off. Both hives are in great shape. Saw both queens and both have plenty of stores. They overwintered on a brood and a half and this has worked well. I kept them well fed with Ambrosia fondant since the start of winter with one of the hives going through nearly 4 packs. There is still lots of room for brood and plenty of bees. No sign of disease. Lots of pollen going in 3 and 5 frames of brood. Very happy to have survived the winter.

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[beeno]

I always did use 1-1 for 'spring boosting' back in the days when I was previously bee-keeping, accepted wisdom etc. Since I've been back bee-keeping I've been looking for some evidence for things before I automatically do them again.
Lots of beeks( some on here ) don't bother with 1-1 at all now, at any time, just 2-1. Thinking if they need feeding feed 2-1 if they don't need feeding , dont feed.
Oliver, is there anything, other than heresay, that supports the feeding 1-1 to encourage spring build up ?

Hi Bob,
If I, being a newbie, understood it correctly the reason for feeding, if need be, and making it 1:1 is that bees don't need to dilute it for feeding themselves or making bee bread. They can use the 50% sugar solution as it is. This will speed up brooding provided the pollen is available of course.

 

[PBee]

There are scientific evidences that syrup feeding does not encourage spring build up. It is so clear. Only which helps is protein feeding.

20 years ago I tried too encourage spring build up with sugar feeding, but I got nothing.

It is hard to draw anything from nothing.

Spring build up takes 6 months or more. You cannot feed syrup all the time. Hive will be filled with sugar.

http://www.globalpatties.com/pages/articles/nutrition.htm
.
.

From some of the original research by Matilla and Otis ...

Pollen-supplemented and pollen-limited conditions were created in colonies every spring, and brood rearing and honey yields were subsequently monitored throughout the summer. In all 3 yr, colonies that were supplemented with pollen or a pollen substitute in the spring started rearing brood earlier than colonies in other treatment groups and produced the most workers by late April or early May. In 2002, these initial differences were reflected by a two-fold increase in annual honey yields by September for colonies that were pollen-supplemented during the spring compared with pollen-limited colonies. In 2003 and 2004, differences between treatment groups in the cumulative number of workers produced by colonies disappeared by midsummer, and all colonies had similar annual honey yields (exception: in one year, productivity was low for colonies supplemented with pollen before wintering). Discrepancies between years coincided with differences in spring weather conditions. Colonies supplemented with pollen or a substitute during the spring performed similarly in all respects. These results indicate that an investment in supplementing the pollen diet of colonies would be returned for situations in which large spring populations are important, but long-term improvement in honey yields may only result when spring foraging is severely reduced by inclement weatherhttp://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/0022-0493-99.3.604

In two out of the three years of the study the colonies were equal by midsummer and had similar honey yields. This appears to be after the colonies were manipulated to be either pollen abundant or deficient in spring.

On average, conditions in the British Isles allow pollen foraging in spring and the feeding of sugar syrup stimulates increased pollen collection, wax construction and brood expansion. Research on Kiwi pollination showed up to 7.9 times increase in pollen collected in colonies fed syrup.(Other research cited in the paper shows 5.2 times increased pollen collection from red clover). http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/Feeding-sugar-syrup-to-increase-kiwifruit-pollen-collection?

It's not an either/or situation and provision of protein supplements/substitutes may be necessary or desirable due to local weather conditions, forage or target crops - but feeding sugar syrup also encourages spring build up in conditions commonly occurring here.

 

[Bob Bee]

Hi Bob,
If I, being a newbie, understood it correctly the reason for feeding, if need be, and making it 1:1 is that bees don't need to dilute it for feeding themselves or making bee bread. They can use the 50% sugar solution as it is. This will speed up brooding provided the pollen is available of course.

Beeno, this sounds like the old accepted wisdom,as i said I never questioned it myself years ago, but is there any evidence that this will speed up brooding, I cant see any, only really the opposite, or that it makes absolutely no difference, so why do it?

 

[Bob Bee]

From some of the original research by Matilla and Otis ...

In two out of the three years of the study the colonies were equal by midsummer and had similar honey yields. This appears to be after the colonies were manipulated to be either pollen abundant or deficient in spring.

On average, conditions in the British Isles allow pollen foraging in spring and the feeding of sugar syrup stimulates increased pollen collection, wax construction and brood expansion. Research on Kiwi pollination showed up to 7.9 times increase in pollen collected in colonies fed syrup.(Other research cited in the paper shows 5.2 times increased pollen collection from red clover). http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/Feeding-sugar-syrup-to-increase-kiwifruit-pollen-collection?

are now this is more like it....

 

[Finman]

On average, conditions in the British Isles allow pollen foraging in spring and the feeding of sugar syrup stimulates increased pollen collection, wax construction and brood expansion.

Research on Kiwi pollination showed up to 7.9 times increase in pollen collected in colonies fed syrup.(Other research cited in the paper shows 5.2 times increased pollen collection from red clover).


http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/Feeding-sugar-syrup-to-increase-kiwifruit-pollen-collection?
but feeding sugar syrup also encourages spring build up in conditions commonly occurring here.

As far as I know, UK has not made honey bee researches.
I bet that UK have made not a single research what factors affect on spring build up.

You laughed to me last spring and you have laughed to me this spring that in UK bees get pollen since January.

On average your hives are full of brood. You have feeded them all kind of sugar 3 months. Where is the result?


But if you do not want to learn something you do not learn.

PS: kiwi fruit's pollen nutrition value is zero because pollen does not have cell slime.

Yes, I read about 45 years ago how bees add pollen foraging in red clover. But how in heck you can feed sugar to hives in the middle of summer.
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[oliver90owner]

Finnsky, please stop harping on about pollen and the UK. This year (and last) have been the worst in several decades for the bees. There is normally loads of pollen available in the UK; normally the bees are able to forage it easily.

This year is different. Yes, protein is likely short this year, the first since I have been keeping bees. UK weather has been very unkind to the bees, but some will still be ready for the OSR as that, too, is far behind the normal timetable. One cannot get everything right every year and the weather is out of our control.

OSR was two weeks earlier than the 'norm' last year and appears it will be two weeks behind the normal start this year. All dependent on the weather, some could be less and it all could be more. Those that keep bees by dates instead of observations will have had a bit of a 'wake up call' this last twelve months, I would think.

 

[enrico]

Here here or is it hear hear!
,

 

[For want of a better word]

UK weather has been very unkind to the bees, but some will still be ready for the OSR as that, too, is far behind the normal timetable

Local Tamar Valley farmer is ploughing OSR back in and covering fields in polythene... potatoes I think?... surely not beans?

Except for the fringes of Coastal Norway, Scandinavia does not have our Northern Temperate Maritime Climate... plus possibly not quite so much effect by a Jet Stream cavorting its way across the Atlantic at a much lower latitude than usual.

Spring... what Spring??