Moggs
Field Bee
Inspected yesterday and I'm concerned about one colony that has probably suffered from my overfeeding, prior to the big freeze. The brood box is heavily filled with stores (I would imagine pre-winter syrup) with about three frames of partial brood and a little more space to lay (I would estimate another frame). The colony is quite small, covering these three frames which I take to be a sign of inadequate winter brood laying space from before. To say that they have enough food is an understatement!
My challenge then is to encourage rapid build up. I'm tempted to remove excess store frames and restrict the remainder with dummy boards to conserve heat, keep supplying stimulant (or very dilute syrup re RAB' s observation that water is needed) and maybe offer some drawn comb in place of some stores to encourage Q to lay rapidly if she will. I worry about having that amount of sugar syrup store in there, that may be inhibiting expansion (I guess that the bees will not attempt to make space here as they see this as a resource and I don't want it ending up in any supers later).
If that's reasonable, the frame make up would consist of three existing partial brood (central), one frame of drawn comb either side, then 'x' frames of remaining stores, with emphasis on those with pollen. I know that it's better for them to have readily accessible stores near to the brood, especially if it will stay cooler at this time of year so I may have to revisit that. On reflection, that may make a nonsense of using dummy boards! Top insulation is still on, with OMF.
How does that sound?
My challenge then is to encourage rapid build up. I'm tempted to remove excess store frames and restrict the remainder with dummy boards to conserve heat, keep supplying stimulant (or very dilute syrup re RAB' s observation that water is needed) and maybe offer some drawn comb in place of some stores to encourage Q to lay rapidly if she will. I worry about having that amount of sugar syrup store in there, that may be inhibiting expansion (I guess that the bees will not attempt to make space here as they see this as a resource and I don't want it ending up in any supers later).
If that's reasonable, the frame make up would consist of three existing partial brood (central), one frame of drawn comb either side, then 'x' frames of remaining stores, with emphasis on those with pollen. I know that it's better for them to have readily accessible stores near to the brood, especially if it will stay cooler at this time of year so I may have to revisit that. On reflection, that may make a nonsense of using dummy boards! Top insulation is still on, with OMF.
How does that sound?
Last edited:
Mike
