Disappointed i am honey bound

[Joe bee's]

It's my first year beekeeping. I have given them to much syrup and they are honeybound. Mad with my self I've been getting starvation alerts and the weather has not been great. Also I think I have been to slow with the supers and slow noticing what was going on. Have I learnt my lesson. The hive is on double brood and both boxes are full of nectar and no room to lay. Is there anything I can do to try and fix it or attempt to fix it. Thank you

 

[Erichalfbee]

Spin some frames out and give them back
Eat whatever you’ve spun out yourself or put in the freezer to feed back in the autumn

 

[Joe bee's]

Spin some frames out and give them back
Eat whatever you’ve spun out yourself or put in the freezer to feed back in the autumn

Thanks I will give that a go that sounds like everyone's a winner.

 

[ericbeaumont]

given them to much syrup and they are honeybound.

You mean syrup-bound! Spin it as Dani said, and save it for autumn feed.

hive is on double brood and both boxes are full of nectar and no room to lay.

Do you have another BB? Take one box off to extract, and give them a BB of foundation on top.

 

[Joe bee's]

You mean syrup-bound! Spin it as Dani said, and save it for autumn feed.


Do you have another BB? Take one box off to extract, and give them a BB of foundation on top.

Yes sorry. Will I still have to put some drawn comb in the bottom brood after extracting. They already have a second brood box they are filling with syrup. Should I extract this and put it back on

You mean syrup-bound! Spin it as Dani said, and save it for autumn feed.


Do you have another BB? Take one box off to extract, and give them a BB of foundation on top.

 

[drex]

Despite getting the bbbka starvation alerts I have never had to feed my bees. It is an " alert", so I bear it in mind when I assess my own colonies, and act accordingly to what I find. 1-2 frames of stores is enough to get them through to next inspection. Feeding is a balancing act. Any sugar I might put into the hives I want the bees to use, not store. I don't want to produce " sugar honey"

 

[user 819]

Starvation alerts are sent out for numty beeks and newbies who don't know how to tell.
From week to week a whole brood frame of stores to see them thru so one should be able to check stores quite easily at inspections, there is no need to panic by going bonkers and over doing it. 5lbs of wet food is plenty but my preference this time of year is to use saved sealed stores or fondant.
Sealed excess stores are a god send at times and I have some that are two years old for feeding.
As long as one is seeing fresh nectar stores, even small amounts is a good sign as it often means they are ok.

One of my colonies ( garden ) is monstering in the nectar, now on triple brood and seven supers, if they carry on they may match and surpass last years 237lbs that was harvested.
My other colonies in comparison are very lacking , though no feeding bar the recent clipped queen swarm housed, they have been struggling to store much and I have only seen little fresh wet stores and they have been using almost all that they are foraging. Only todays checks have shown in the last ten days that supers are seeing some storage use now, broods are certainly fairly well stocked with stores.

 

[JamezF]

Is it just me who read the topic title and thought "Perhaps some Dulcolax would help?"

Yes? Ok then. As you were.

James

 

[user 819]

It's my first year beekeeping. I have given them to much syrup and they are honeybound. Mad with my self I've been getting starvation alerts and the weather has not been great. Also I think I have been to slow with the supers and slow noticing what was going on. Have I learnt my lesson. The hive is on double brood and both boxes are full of nectar and no room to lay. Is there anything I can do to try and fix it or attempt to fix it. Thank you

It takes time to learn what is sufficient and what isn't , the issue with feeding is one can kiss any foraged stored stores good by as it will certainly be adulterated with sugar and not fit to sell.
Unless winter feeding then spring early summer feeding needs to be little and often , a frame will hold 5lb stores and is enough to see them thru till the next week for feed and brood rearing but if comb building it will not be enough.
Treat the stores alerts with caution and read what is happening at the entrance and that which you see in the combs, heavy activity will mean forage is occurring and they likely are using it up quicker then then they can store it.
Over time one will get to know the forage in the area simply by keeping an eye on all the forna as you go around and seeing foragers on said forna.
Check out the area for forage trees, sycamore , horse/sw chestnut, lime etc etc, fruit trees and blossom.
WIld forage esp blackberry/bramble, any garden centres near by or wooded areas, forget- me- not & wood forget-me -not showed up as 57% on the specie sample of one of my honies. Mustard , **** or any of it's brassica varieties .
Bramble forage this year is pretty awesome from what I see them on, they may not have been storing much but has been a main stay for them where other pickings have been sparse.

 

[Amari]

Is it just me who read the topic title and thought "Perhaps some Dulcolax would help?"

Yes? Ok then. As you were.

James

Horrors of childhood!
Whenever my Granny (b.1880) visited, she and my mother (b.1915) would routinely sit at the table and place Epsoms Salts (magnesium sulphate) crystals in two saucers, add water, then drink the solution. Whenever I misbehaved or was perceived to be unwell, I was asked to stick my tongue out. Invariably it was 'coated' whereupon I was told to swallow Ex-Lax tablets......

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Starvation alerts are sent out for numty beeks and newbies who don't know how to tell.

...and unfortunately, both the BBKS and the NBU send them out willy nilly at every whipped stitch.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Will I still have to put some drawn comb in the bottom brood after extracting. They already have a second brood box they are filling with syrup. Should I extract this and put it back

Bottom BBs often contain a lot of pollen, and if a strong (syrup) flow turns up bees may turn the top BB into a super.

You'll have to take off that top BB and extract, but unless you can return it an hour later, replace it with a BB of foundation.

Having dealt with the syrup issue, you may still decide (depending on colony strength) to give that BB of extracted combs back and run triple BBs for a while.

Any contaminated supers will also have to be extracted and returned.