Feeding frames back to the bees

[Erichalfbee]

Near Carlisle

Ah. I was just trying to find you a mentor ( I used to live outside Kendal) but I dont know anybody up there.

 

[ericbeaumont]

the method shown in the link

Yes, I closed it off rather than follow Roger Patterson's plan: place a piece of plywood, or similar material, that is wider than the width of the bottom floor entrance against the front of the hive below the new top entrance, sloping towards the ground and resting on it. This is to divert returning bees to the top entrance, but still allowing access to the bottom entrance around the board.

I sealed the original bottom entrance for two reasons: to avoid robbing and to prevent bees parking fresh pollen in the bottom box.

 

[elainemary]

I've used it during early spring flows when bees are busy, at which time there's little likelihood of robbing.

Extra work is minimal: nadir the box, put on it a 450 sheet of thick plastic with a pencil hole in the middle, and put back the brood box.

Close the bottom entrance and establish a top entrance above the plastic sheet. If you use Abelo boxes, just take out the little block in the warm wall and walk away. I have a few old cedar boxes with holes drilled in the cold wall by previous owners; a cork or milk bottle top seals effectively.

The sheet prevents the nest developing downwards; after about ten days or so, the nadired box will be clean.

Thanks, interesting to hear from someone who has used the method successfully.

Has led to another question(s):
You mention you use it in the Spring. Are these boxes of surplus part filled honey supers left from the previous late Summer?
Why didn't you nadir in the Autumn instead, was it driven by weather reasons?

Wouldn't work for me with WBCs and interlocking polyhives, I nadir instead and find the bees move up the stores really quickly and without any risk of pollen going in, or the queen laying in the bottom box (as long as I remove the nadir super on a good day late autumn, or early in spring before the queen moves down looking for space)

 

[ericbeaumont]

Are these boxes of surplus part filled honey supers left from the previous late Summer?
Why didn't you nadir in the Autumn instead

I used the method to clear crystallised honey - for example, ivy that was perhaps extracted late and so partially - and the boxes sat around until spring.

Found it useful to soak the combs first, but went for the basic approach: filled a plastic box with water and dumped the supers in it one by one; after ten minutes took them straight to the hives, water running out and all.

Once I decided to overwinter as many as was practicable on double brood, the need to nadir stores in the autumn disappeared.

 

[Finman]

I’ve read that people sometimes feed surplus frames of stores back to the bees in the spring.

It depends, does the hive need more food. If not, the extra food only restrict the free room what the colony needs for pollen and brood.

And if you need to give more food, put the full frame to han into normal box. No need special boxes above the cluster. Heat escapes to those strange boxes.
.

 

[Do224]

It depends, does the hive need more food. If not, the extra food only restrict the free room what the colony needs for pollen and brood.

And if you need to give more food, put the full frame to han into normal box. No need special boxes above the cluster. Heat escapes to those strange boxes.
.

Would you ever use the strategy I mentioned in the autumn instead of feeding syrup (say if you had a load of frames with partial stores that you wanted emptied prior to winter)?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Would you ever use the strategy I mentioned in the autumn instead of feeding syrup (say if you had a load of frames with partial stores that you wanted emptied prior to winter)?

As long as it's done early enough and not with full shallows of sealed stores it's a good way of getting the bees to move it up into the brood chamber.
#Many do just that

 

[oliver90owner]

Paterson seems unnecessarily complicated/risky/etc.

I remember (from a long time ago) when I still had those one-way thingies. I slapped on a fresh super, then a crownboard with bee escapes, then another coverboard and the roof. Went back and found the super empty with no bees or few bees in it with the bee escapes working. There was a tiny gap between the added bits (I think the super was perhaps on its last legs) where the bees had transferred all the honey from the super to the one recently added on.

Perplexed me for a few moments, and annoying at the time, but, as usual, a simple reason, for the empty super was soon found..

 

[elainemary]

I used the method to clear crystallised honey - for example, ivy that was perhaps extracted late and so partially - and the boxes sat around until spring.

Found it useful to soak the combs first, but went for the basic approach: filled a plastic box with water and dumped the supers in it one by one; after ten minutes took them straight to the hives, water running out and all.

Once I decided to overwinter as many as was practicable on double brood, the need to nadir stores in the autumn disappeared.

Thanks for explaining that. You've got a good point there Eric about over-wintering on double brood. Last 2 seasons I've over-wintered one colony on a dummied down (fat dummies used) double brood with 16 frames, has worked well. Can see the benefits, especially as I intend to move more colonies to double brood next year.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks for explaining that. You've got a good point there Eric about over-wintering on double brood. Last 2 seasons I've over-wintered one colony on a dummied down (fat dummies used) double brood with 16 frames, has worked well. Can see the benefits, especially as I intend to move more colonies to double brood next year.

I’ve done the same with double brood poly nucs. It works well

 

[CabrachCaveman]

I know it's an old thread, but... Would this work with a modified crown board instead of the plastic?

 

[Antipodes]

I know it's an old thread, but... Would this work with a modified crown board instead of the plastic?

I don't know, but I find it difficult to get them to do what I want with a number of different methods.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Would this work with a modified crown board instead of the plastic?

Not sure what you mean by 'plastic', but if you mean Porter bee escapes, I'd save your money and do without. Bees propolise them, or a drone gets stuck and dies in the gate, and that's the end of it as a useful tool.

It is against colony instincts to contract at this time of year by clearing honey back into the main nest, but they will do it during a dearth, a heatwave, or in Augustish, before the ivy flows or after it has finished; they'll clear it during these periods despite not being in contraction mode.

Any seperation of nest and stores will work; limit access to one or two holes the size of a pencil; it can help to increase the distance between nest and stores, so add an empty super between board and stores.