Bees using stores at an alarning rate

[gp125john]

Hello,

I have a 2 colonies in wooden 14x12 brood boxes. They are both relatively prolific bees, one has a local mongrel queen I have had for a few years, whilst the other has another mongrel but it is the daughter of an AMM queen I bought.

I fed each hive around 12-15kg of sugar in September (so a greater weight once it was mixed as 2:1 syrup). The hives were very heavy.

Having hefted the hives, they are now both quite light and we are hardly into winter

I have put fondant on top of each hive just in case.

As a comparison, I have another hive which I fed only 10kg of sugar and it is still very heavy and 2 poly nucs which are also still very heavy. Again these are all either mongrel swarms I have caught or daughters of my other mongrel queens.

I am sure I didn't feed more than 15kg of sugar last year and in the spring they still had lots of stores left.

Is this just due to the warm wet weather this autumn and are other people seeing anything similar?

 

[Ian123]

September is quite early to expect all your feeding to be done, I am often topping up in October/November and what you post above is the very reason why it’s worth doing. I am normally lucky enough to get a top up from ivy over this period and this has been the worst autumn for a number of years with little coming in and wet and cold!! As to how to deal with it, get some fondant in fast. Realistically you can get some syrup back on as soon as the weather starts to improve so suggest you add warm syrup with insulation as soon as weather permits late winter. If you get a cold snap with feed on bees will often stop taking it down so be prepared to replace the cold syrup when the weather improves. But at the very least try and leave them in contact with a slab of fondant at all time.

 

[Murox]

Where I am there is little late nectar at all. I feed heavy syrup until they stop taking it regardless. Here that was until mid November this year.

 

[Poly Hive]

The obvious first question is what bee is in the hives?

PH

 

[Beefriendly]

The obvious first question is what bee is in the hives?

PH

Local queen and Daughter (F1) of pure Amm. Stated in original post.

 

[SDM]

Its certainly pretty normal to see hives turn early autumn feeding into winter bees. As others have said, i keep a close eye on weights( checked fortnightly) well into November.

 

[drex]

All my main colonies, which I keep on double brood national all year round still good and heavy. I leave some honey in the brood boxes, have late ivy flow and top up with syrup if any are a bit light going into winter. On the other hand the nucs all had a fondant top up today. It does vary from year to year, hence the need for regular hefting throughout the winter, especially in the new year, when weights do often drop rapidly as she starts brood rearing in earnest. My bees are all home selected mongrels

 

[Poly Hive]

Sorry missed that bit. All the same rather odd behaviour for Amm bees. I was expecting Italian frankly.

Anyway, they are what they are and behaving as they are so.....

Make up an eke or use an empty super and put on a big lump of fondant a good 2 or three kilos. Sorted.

PH

 

[For want of a better word]

Sorry missed that bit. All the same rather odd behaviour for Amm bees. I was expecting Italian frankly.

Anyway, they are what they are and behaving as they are so.....

Make up an eke or use an empty super and put on a big lump of fondant a good 2 or three kilos. Sorted.

PH

 

[gp125john]

Thank you, I fed a little bit in October but stopped feeding When they stopped drinking the syrup.

I thought 15kg of sugar was a good amount and fed about the same last year. The bees also bring in a lot of ivy nectar too.

This spring, one of the very same colonies had frames and frames of food left at the end of March, to the point I had to bruise it and also take some frames out an replace with comb so the queen had plenty of room to lay.

The 14x12 broodbox is quite a good size and should hold ample stores without leaving supers one, which they will have to keep warm.

The fondant went on the cover boards straight away as soon as I felt the hives were light.

Next year perhaps I will take the supers off half way through August so they have a couple more weeks of harvesting the summer nectar and also re-queen one of the hives with a more thrifty queen.

 

[Poly Hive]

If the bees have to cluster tightly fondant over crownboards might as well be on the moon.

Put it on the topbars where they can access it whether clustered or not. You will be pig sick if they die of isolation starvation with food on the CB.

PH

 

[Ian123]

Don’t worry about taking supers off to feed earlier just feed probably as you have been doing but be prepared to carry it on a little later. Unless I am after a box of ivy I try to keep a little feed on to mix with stores that will go solid but that’s just me. Bees taking syrup is temp dependant if you find they stop with a cold snap then get some back on when it warms up again if they are still short.

 

[Amari]

Hello,

I have a 2 colonies in wooden 14x12 brood boxes. They are both relatively prolific bees, one has a local mongrel queen I have had for a few years, whilst the other has another mongrel but it is the daughter of an AMM queen I bought.
I fed each hive around 12-15kg of sugar in September (so a greater weight once it was mixed as 2:1 syrup). The hives were very heavy.
Having hefted the hives, they are now both quite light and we are hardly into winter
I have put fondant on top of each hive just in case.
As a comparison, I have another hive which I fed only 10kg of sugar and it is still very heavy and 2 poly nucs which are also still very heavy. Again these are all either mongrel swarms I have caught or daughters of my other mongrel queens.
I am sure I didn't feed more than 15kg of sugar last year and in the spring they still had lots of stores left.
Is this just due to the warm wet weather this autumn and are other people seeing anything similar?

Robbing??

 

[Bakerbee]

I have a hive of carnies that refused 2:1 in the autumn. I popped on some fondant 2 weeks ago and its gone already. A second lot has gone on and theyre already into that also.

 

[Millet]

I have a hive of carnies that refused 2:1 in the autumn. I popped on some fondant 2 weeks ago and its gone already. A second lot has gone on and theyre already into that also.

They sharp get through it when they need it..i now stick double on the top bars than what i think will be eaten and it still gets eaten by spring with the odd top up..i have just chopped a 12.5 kg block up as i have nearly ran out of the 8kg i had..one of three hives went into winter too light but the other two where at a healthy weight but the stores seemed to vanish over a week..another five colonies fed the same feel like they are concreted to the ground..it sure is strange how each one differs...if in doubt fling the fondant about..

 

[pargyle]

...if in doubt fling the fondant about..

No .. get used to checking the weight of your colonies, either weight them or get used to hefting. If they need feeding then feed them .. if they have sufficient stores don't. There should be no doubt if you know your colonies,

Too much feed can be a very bad thing when spring build up arrives - you want your colonies to have enough stores but room for the queen to lay when she gets going.

This is the beginners section and some with national hives after overfeeding their bees through the winter won't have the experience to know the large amount of free space that a fecund queen will require in a couple of months time if we get a warm start to spring.

 

[SDM]

They sharp get through it when they need it..i now stick double on the top bars than what i think will be eaten and it still gets eaten by spring with the odd top up..i have just chopped a 12.5 kg block up as i have nearly ran out of the 8kg i had..one of three hives went into winter too light but the other two where at a healthy weight but the stores seemed to vanish over a week..another five colonies fed the same feel like they are concreted to the ground..it sure is strange how each one differs...if in doubt fling the fondant about..

Frankly, if i had a colony that actually needed fondant now, they'd get the whole 12.5kg block. Why pish about when theyre sure to need it.

 

[Beefriendly]

Yes..better fed than dead is my motto.
Judging store levels can be tricky at any level, even more so as a beginner.
So as Millet days slap it on if you think they need it.

 

[pargyle]

Yes..better fed than dead is my motto.
Judging store levels can be tricky at any level, even more so as a beginner.
So as Millet days slap it on if you think they need it.

No ... it's not what he said. I agree with what you said .. if they need it feed it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes if they need it.
Just weighed all mine and checked one that already has fondant on. They have made a fair dent in it already in two weeks. Another will have some on when it stops hailing.