Eeeek...starvation

[Tremyfro]

I had a nuc which I had hived up...it was well insulated and also had a celotex follower board. It was doing well...lots of brood. I felt it was safe to leave it at the last inspection as it was unlikely to swarm. Yesterday...went in there only to find lots of dead and dying bees on the floor of the hive. Bees head first in the comb...some brood cappings being removed. No stores ....Arrrgh...they were starving. I quickly added 2 feeders and filled them with syrup. The bees were in them straight away. It seemed to happen so quickly...but on reflection...there was a lot of brood in there and they must have used a lot of stores. Just goes to show...you can't miss a beat with bees.
I went on to check the other colonies. I added feeders to 2 more colonies which were low on stores too.
One query...I have a pollen substitute...would that help them get back on track?
I guess this is the June gap.....if the queen survives...there is bound to be a brood break.

 

[For want of a better word]

Nuc starvation can be due to lack of forragers..... keep the feeders on untill they have crammed in loads of stores... unlike the USA it seems we are blessed with plenty of pollen... but if you must feed them peanuts or GM Soya ( most is) feel free to waste your money!

All the best

Yeghes da

 

[Millet]

I had a nuc which I had hived up...it was well insulated and also had a celotex follower board. It was doing well...lots of brood. I felt it was safe to leave it at the last inspection as it was unlikely to swarm. Yesterday...went in there only to find lots of dead and dying bees on the floor of the hive. Bees head first in the comb...some brood cappings being removed. No stores ....Arrrgh...they were starving. I quickly added 2 feeders and filled them with syrup. The bees were in them straight away. It seemed to happen so quickly...but on reflection...there was a lot of brood in there and they must have used a lot of stores. Just goes to show...you can't miss a beat with bees.
I went on to check the other colonies. I added feeders to 2 more colonies which were low on stores too.
One query...I have a pollen substitute...would that help them get back on track?
I guess this is the June gap.....if the queen survives...there is bound to be a brood break.

When i split my colony to make a new colony i give the nuc pollen substitute regardless of whether they needed it or not and also plenty of honey from the original colony, upto now they are still with us and that GM peanut gear has caused no harm apart from a couple of quid that i could have spent on bird food instead.

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes I will keep the feeders topped up. I was surprised though at how quickly this can happen. I'll hold off with the pollen substitute. It was a very full nuc when I hived it up and seemed to have plenty of flyers....but there you go...sometimes that learning curve gets pretty steep...lol.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes you have to keep an eye on nucs. I've been checking mine every two or three days and adding a store frame each time
Good job you got there in time
There will be an NBU warning out in a couple of weeks. Wanna bet?

 

[Worldsend]

Ten days ago my hives had loads of honey

I would suspect my little dears have eaten most of it now

I seem to remember they did the same last year!

 

[ShinySideUp]

I have been feeding my weaker colony -- and they don't appreciate my efforts. Every time I lift the lid to check the feeder they have me. The first time I went in at dusk in the rain, only lifted the roof a little, underneath is the feeder and crown board, and they were at me and I was unprotected. Got stung on the hand, dog got stung on his ear as he sneaked in to the apiary while I wasn't looking.

This morning I went in to replace the feeder, got stung on the leg for my efforts so tomorrow when I check the feeder I am going in fully covered for the two minutes I need. Little sods.

 

[Tremyfro]

I have been feeding my weaker colony -- and they don't appreciate my efforts. Every time I lift the lid to check the feeder they have me. The first time I went in at dusk in the rain, only lifted the roof a little, underneath is the feeder and crown board, and they were at me and I was unprotected. Got stung on the hand, dog got stung on his ear as he sneaked in to the apiary while I wasn't looking.

This morning I went in to replace the feeder, got stung on the leg for my efforts so tomorrow when I check the feeder I am going in fully covered for the two minutes I need. Little sods.

How come they get you? Are they coming out of the entrance at you? Mighty unfair of them!

 

[ShinySideUp]

How come they get you? Are they coming out of the entrance at you? Mighty unfair of them!

Yes, I go in to check the feeder, coming in from the side safe in the knowledge that the entrance is empty of bees, then...bam!, entrance has more bees than I can shake a stick at, as if they were waiting until I had the roof in my hands and couldn't defend myself.

 

[madasafish]

I have been feeding my weaker colony -- and they don't appreciate my efforts. Every time I lift the lid to check the feeder they have me. The first time I went in at dusk in the rain, only lifted the roof a little, underneath is the feeder and crown board, and they were at me and I was unprotected. Got stung on the hand, dog got stung on his ear as he sneaked in to the apiary while I wasn't looking.

This morning I went in to replace the feeder, got stung on the leg for my efforts so tomorrow when I check the feeder I am going in fully covered for the two minutes I need. Little sods.

I always have a lit smoker when opening a roof. ALWAYS. Most of the time it is never used BUT...

And if I have a smoker, a bee jacket..

 

[For want of a better word]

Steep learning curve... always don a beesuit before going into the apiary!

Shiney ... where did you get those agro bees from?... I need some with a bit of aggression for a site near Luckett what seems to be attracting some unwanted interest!

Yeghes da

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes, I go in to check the feeder, coming in from the side safe in the knowledge that the entrance is empty of bees, then...bam!, entrance has more bees than I can shake a stick at, as if they were waiting until I had the roof in my hands and couldn't defend myself.

Oh.....they certainly are very defensive. How about spraying the entrance defenders with syrup before you pop the lid? ...but I suppose that might encourage robbers.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Now here's a strange thing. The sun came out this morning and was quite warm so I decided to go and see the bees to put a new lot of feed in; seeing what I saw I decided not to bother...

All the bees were going nuts, both hives, big time. The grumpy one was buzzing so loud I could hear it five metres away, both hives were surrounded by bees, really, a lot of bees and I have no idea what they were doing. I'm sure it wasn't a swarm as no one seemed to be going anywhere but there was no way I was going anywhere near either hive.

Two hours later and I go back to see the bees and they are all as quiet as lambs, popping in laden with pollen and popping out again. This evening I got my smoker, my bee suit, boots, the works and popped the roof waiting for the attack. Nothing. Bees were in the feeder taking the last of the syrup, no one charged out of the entrance and I could quite easily have done it wearing swimming trunks so quiet was it.

I can't imagine what has been causing their aggression which has now gone, or what caused the commotion this morning. I'm going in with an experienced beekeeper on Suday morning so perhaps something will show up then.

But for now, all is calm and as it should be. Weird.

 

[Tremyfro]

I went out to the Bee Yard to check the feeders. Amazing the one which was really dying off had taken almost all the syrup from two feeders. So filled them up again. The other two colonies had also emptied their feeders...so they were refilled. The bees have all been out today and the forecast for the next few days is quite good...so if there is nectar out there...I'm sure they will find it.
SSU....Perhaps your bees were defensive because they were hungry.
Do you think the bees you saw today were the bees celebrating being outside after cooped up indoors.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I went out to the Bee Yard to check the feeders. Amazing the one which was really dying off had taken almost all the syrup from two feeders. So filled them up again. The other two colonies had also emptied their feeders...so they were refilled. The bees have all been out today and the forecast for the next few days is quite good...so if there is nectar out there...I'm sure they will find it.
SSU....Perhaps your bees were defensive because they were hungry.
Do you think the bees you saw today were the bees celebrating being outside after cooped up indoors.

I suspect it was hunger that was causing their distress, at least I hope so. As for celebrating...if it was then it was truly party time!

 

[For want of a better word]

All the bees were going nuts, both hives, big time. The grumpy one was buzzing so loud I could hear it five metres away, both hives were surrounded by bees, really, a lot of bees and I have no idea what they were doing. I'm sure it wasn't a swarm as no one seemed to be going anywhere but there was no way I was going anywhere near either hive.

Sounds like a swarm prepping to leave... or a virgin about to head off into the blue yonder.
Weather here was mixed yesterday to say the least... swarm reports are still steadily coming in...( Usual muddle of bumbles, but no wasps or hornets) one prime swarm of yellow stripies in a compost bin in St Ive ( Church End ) that can stay there until we can work out how to move it!

Yeghes da

 

[Swarm]

All the bees were going nuts, both hives, big time. The grumpy one was buzzing so loud I could hear it five metres away, both hives were surrounded by bees, really, a lot of bees and I have no idea what they were doing. I'm sure it wasn't a swarm as no one seemed to be going anywhere but there was no way I was going anywhere near either hive.

Sounds like a swarm prepping to leave... or a virgin about to head off into the blue yonder.

 

[madasafish]

I don't feed syrup now: it just encourages robbing...Fondant for me.

 

[bontbee]

... The sun came out this morning and was quite warm so I decided to go and see the bees to put a new lot of feed in; seeing what I saw I decided not to bother...

All the bees were going nuts, both hives, big time. The grumpy one was buzzing so loud I could hear it five metres away, both hives were surrounded by bees, really, a lot of bees and I have no idea what they were doing. I'm sure it wasn't a swarm as no one seemed to be going anywhere but there was no way I was going anywhere near either hive.

Two hours later and I go back to see the bees and they are all as quiet as lambs, popping in laden with pollen and popping out again. This evening I got my smoker, my bee suit, boots, the works and popped the roof waiting for the attack. Nothing. Bees were in the feeder taking the last of the syrup, no one charged out of the entrance and I could quite easily have done it wearing swimming trunks so quiet was it.

I can't imagine what has been causing their aggression which has now gone, or what caused the commotion this morning. I'm going in with an experienced beekeeper on Suday morning so perhaps something will show up then.

But for now, all is calm and as it should be. Weird.

orientation flights?

 

[JWF]

Or all the drones nipping out en masse for a bit jiggy jiggy