Bees & Ivy Honey

[Swift Nick]

Can bees consume Ivy honey in these cold months? I have been told the Ivy honey crystallises and the bees can’t process it, can anyone confirm if that is true.
My concern is that I may be relying on stores the bees cant use, I fed them in September 2:1 syrup & then they also added extra weight from the Ivy flow, but I am not sure this Ivy honey is usable.
Also I have put some fondant on, above the crown board, in case they are short, will they use their own stores first, or take the fondant. I am thinking I can use the fondant as an indicator.
Thanks Nick

 

[pargyle]

They will use ivy honey - they have no problem with it.

The bigger worry is that you seem to be indiscriminantly feeding them ... did you not heft or weigh your hive when you were going in to winter ? Are you not hefting and/or weighing now ? If you fed them, left them the remains of their summer honey in the brood frames and they topped up with ivy honey then they should have had enough stores (more than enough if it's a 14 x 12 or polystyrene hive) to see them through until spring as it has been a very mild winter so far and they have been flying.

The risk you run is that they store all this extra food you are giving them in the brood frames or eat the sugar and leave the capped stores and then when spring comes and they start brood rearing there is no space for the queen to lay as the brood frames are still full of stores.

The risk then is either a slow build up or worse still early swarming.

Need to be more aware of what your hives weigh and the rate at which they are consuming the stores rather than just bunging on more food.

 

[Swift Nick]

Thank you for confirming that the bees can eat the Ivy honey.

I have all the weights, pre feeding estimate, weights after feeding, weights after the Ivy and weights each month, I didn’t want to make a lengthy post with all that info, I find on the forum, too much information leads to long threads which get quickly away from the original question. But maybe a little more information helps get a more appropriate reply (still learning).

I have one hive that if it had consumed all of the feed “honey” in preference to the Ivy, it may have been left with just the Ivy, so I added the fondant, but it looks like that was probably not necessary.

Thanks again for your reply.
Nick

 

[user 6228]

Can bees consume Ivy honey in these cold months? I have been told the Ivy honey crystallises and the bees can’t process it, can anyone confirm if that is true.
My concern is that I may be relying on stores the bees cant use, I fed them in September 2:1 syrup & then they also added extra weight from the Ivy flow, but I am not sure this Ivy honey is usable.
Also I have put some fondant on, above the crown board, in case they are short, will they use their own stores first, or take the fondant. I am thinking I can use the fondant as an indicator.
Thanks Nick

Ivy is a native plant in the sense it came here after the last glaciation as did the honey bees when the British isles re-forested. So honey bees have had quite a few thousand years just in the UK. There was probably ivy in central and a southern iberia during the glacial period so honey bees and ivy have a long history so if it was so bad for them they probably would have developed a behaviour to avoid or cope with. Whether the combination of human built hives/practices and ivy is bad is another question.

 

[pargyle]

TI find on the forum, too much information leads to long threads which get quickly away from the original question. But maybe a little more information helps get a more appropriate reply (still learning).

Always best on here to give as much information as you can - you will get a better, more qualified, response to a question. We try, when it's in the beginners section, to be helpful with replies.

Most threads of interest in this forum will twist and turn off from the original question .. it's one of the things that make it a great resource and a place of interest. If you just want an answer to a question try a google search or the BBKA forum where no deviation is allowed ...

 

[Swarm]

Can bees consume Ivy honey in these cold months? I have been told the Ivy honey crystallises and the bees can’t process it, can anyone confirm if that is true.
My concern is that I may be relying on stores the bees cant use, I fed them in September 2:1 syrup & then they also added extra weight from the Ivy flow, but I am not sure this Ivy honey is usable.
Also I have put some fondant on, above the crown board, in case they are short, will they use their own stores first, or take the fondant. I am thinking I can use the fondant as an indicator.
Thanks Nick

You gave all the info from what I can see. They were fed in September and then they added weight from the Ivy flow. You have given them fondant (belt and braces) which many do, just in case and any stores clogged frames can be swapped out in Spring should the queen require space. All you really wanted to know was whether the bees can use this Ivy stores.
Yes they can and amazing that nature provides this rich bounty at just the right time.

 

[Swift Nick]

Thanks Steve, that has put my mind at rest, my 3 hives (between them) put on 34kg with the Ivy flow, I have a lot of Ivy around me, so as you say it is a great resource for the bees.
Cheers Nick

 

[WoodenBeam]

Just sticking my pennies worth in.
With ivy stores that have crystallised I feel the bees can deal with as long as they have water to help them dissolve said stores. Fine if they can exit the hive which in a typical 'English Winter' as of late they can - if a pre longed sub zero Winter of old then maybe not.
Just my thoughts on the matter so don't take as gospel.
Certainly better to over feed & deal with any issues in the Spring than under feed and then have no bees.........

 

[Swift Nick]

Just sticking my pennies worth in.
With ivy stores that have crystallised I feel the bees can deal with as long as they have water to help them dissolve said stores. Fine if they can exit the hive which in a typical 'English Winter' as of late they can - if a pre longed sub zero Winter of old then maybe not.
Just my thoughts on the matter so don't take as gospel.
Certainly better to over feed & deal with any issues in the Spring than under feed and then have no bees.........

Appreciate the input, It’s my first winter with bees, so I guess I am quite cautious, so I am happy to have the fondant in place, just to be sure. Maybe the person who told me bees couldn’t eat Ivy honey in winter meant what you are saying, and it’s weather dependent, maybe even location dependent.
I have polycarbonate crown boards, I notice in cold weather these get a bit of condensation at the edges on the underside, I guess the bees use some of that.
Some of the bees are out this afternoon, which is great to see, prior to the winter (being a beginner) I thought they would be not seen for 4 months.
Thanks Nick
Thanks Nick

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees are perfectly ok with ivy honey. If they can’t get out the water of their own “ respiration “ provides what they need to use it.
If you have frames of ivy honey spare in the spring they are great for raising nucs.

 

[Beefriendly]

. I am thinking I can use the fondant as an indicator.
Thanks Nick

No, some will use it and some wont and both will have plenty of stores already.

 

[Beefriendly]

Is It just my browser or is the quote function not working correctly?
It seems to show OP name but not the quote.

Edit...just my browser....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

will they use their own stores first, or take the fondant.

No telling - some bees will consume stores first, some will consume the fondant to conserve stores and some bees will just take down and store the fondant

 

[Swift Nick]

beefriendly,
Thank you, it’s good to know that the fondant wouldn’t be a reliable indicator.
As it happens (from the posts) the Ivy Honey looks to be quite OK for the bees, so they have plenty of stores, so the fondant is superfluous.
I have had a lot of help today, but more importantly, the bees have, so thanks to the forum.
Thanks to all