Feeding in Winter

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Responses to post #32

Yes, but Nick W knew that he had made a mistake.

Ahh, so you do agree. And now so will a few more new beeks who read it, assuming they do read a bit about beeeping.

I presume that during Sept/Oct he was busy

Don't presume unless you are very confident of your position. It does not seem like that to me (and likely to a lot of the experienced beeks).

Yes obviously. But why don't you tell him what can be done about the problem

There is nothing that can be done at this present time and likely not before next autumn, so plenty of time for the OP to research the problem.

I think this was just lackadaisical posting by Nick W.

Nick made no claims one way or another. The enqiury was to clare p for some guidance on her claim. Perhaps she knows more than the whole rest of us, because I could find no evidence to support her claim (well not in this thread)!

Nick W's problem can be made by any new beek...

And which problem are we considering here? The autumn feed for winter situation, or the apparent/obvious lack of study on the subject of beekeeping in general (and specifically autumn and winter feeding). There have already been enough posts, on this forum over the last two months, regarding feeding for winter that by now some should have been read by all. I would certainly not insult all new beeks by suggesting it could happen to any of them; many of them would be really upset at that suggestion because they have done the course, read the books and followed some of the threads on this forum.

Let's just revisit the 'during Sept/Oct he was busy' point. PH has already said his bees are going to be hard pressed because of his personal situation. Mine, too, are going to be hard pressed. My season ended at the end of September with just two days prior notice. Not exactly ideal and that situation was certainly not expected. Now I am able do something about it, it is far too late to be interfering. I know that. I have 4 colonies that should have been two, so I am hoping they will get through to the spring so I can unite them and get a couple of strongish colonies. I might be lucky and get one, I may not even get half a decent colony from them. We shall see.

RAB
 
Special weather program was interesting...:sifone:
 
Responses to post #32

Yes, but Nick W knew that he had made a mistake.

Ahh, so you do agree. And now so will a few more new beeks who read it, assuming they do read a bit about beeeping.

I presume that during Sept/Oct he was busy

Don't presume unless you are very confident of your position. It does not seem like that to me (and likely to a lot of the experienced beeks).

Yes obviously. But why don't you tell him what can be done about the problem

There is nothing that can be done at this present time and likely not before next autumn, so plenty of time for the OP to research the problem.

I think this was just lackadaisical posting by Nick W.

Nick made no claims one way or another. The enqiury was to clare p for some guidance on her claim. Perhaps she knows more than the whole rest of us, because I could find no evidence to support her claim (well not in this thread)!

Nick W's problem can be made by any new beek...

And which problem are we considering here? The autumn feed for winter situation, or the apparent/obvious lack of study on the subject of beekeeping in general (and specifically autumn and winter feeding). There have already been enough posts, on this forum over the last two months, regarding feeding for winter that by now some should have been read by all. I would certainly not insult all new beeks by suggesting it could happen to any of them; many of them would be really upset at that suggestion because they have done the course, read the books and followed some of the threads on this forum.

Let's just revisit the 'during Sept/Oct he was busy' point. PH has already said his bees are going to be hard pressed because of his personal situation. Mine, too, are going to be hard pressed. My season ended at the end of September with just two days prior notice. Not exactly ideal and that situation was certainly not expected. Now I am able do something about it, it is far too late to be interfering. I know that. I have 4 colonies that should have been two, so I am hoping they will get through to the spring so I can unite them and get a couple of strongish colonies. I might be lucky and get one, I may not even get half a decent colony from them. We shall see.

RAB


Fair enough. Perhaps Easy Beesy's response was the right course of action... It just seemed a bit blunt to me.

Ben P
 
I doubt it VERY much ooooops sorry, am I going on a bit?:sifone:

John Wilkinson
 
Greetings,
is it better to feed inverted 2:1 syrup?
 
Last edited:
To clarify. I have read several books, done a bee keeping course, member of local club and have a mentor.

During autumn I kept feeding syrup as much as they could take. As I have 2 new swarms I wanted to make sure they were looked after.

So I kept feeding syrup until they took no more.

As it was getting cold I my question was mainly should I change to fondant - my mentor personally does not.

That was all my post was above. I have not come into Bee Keeping totally blind. I started reading books autumn last year and ordered my hives from Hivemaker winter last year.

So to be fair - I did my research even though I may not have got this quite right.

For info - I took the syrup feeders off and the syrup has crusted over in any event.

Fondant ordered.
 
I would suggest that it is unfortunately very easy to underestimate the amount of preparation required to successfully embark upon a beekeeping venture. I don't think that I am a particularly slow learner. I spent an extremely large chunk of all of my spare time from about August last year, right through to my first tentative intrusion into the hive in May, taking a course through winter and reading, probably about a dozen books. In short, it is probably fair to say that it was an obsession (I was very fortunate that the rest of the family humoured me throughout this apparent bee craziness)!

Thank goodness for close support of my beekeeping tutor and this forum. I am sure that I would have done my bees a disservice, had I not continued to actively seek out as much information as I could.

I have made mistakes too, of course, though thankfully none that have caused 'my' bees too much harm. It is my hope that I have prepared to the best of my ability so that I stand a reasonable chance of avoiding causing the bees much undue stress and that they will have at least a fighting chance against my misdemeanours.

I fully understand the rather 'terse' response of some on this forum, no doubt founded on so many years of experience and the sure and certain knowledge that beekeeping requires really quite a heavy investment in time, commitment and vital preparation. And maybe a good mentor who can offer sound advice. I have found that beekeeping is not a hobby to be undertaken lightly.

The consequences of getting it wrong may range from unnecessary colony demise (tragic enough) along with serious mishaps caused through poor colony management (there is another thread running in which I have been bemused by the attitude of some who think that for whatever reason, they may be somehow beyond the Law)! What worries me, is what will happen to the poor beekeeper who has not invested heavily enough in such preparation (I count myself amongst this number, though I am comforted that I have done the best to my ability and have taken what I think to be a responsible approach). I acknowledge that it is not necessarily what I know but that which I do not know that may catch me out.

At any rate, I sometimes think that the bees deserve better.
 
I started reading books autumn last year and ordered my hives from Hivemaker winter last year.

So to be fair - I did my research even though I may not have got this quite right.

No doubt each book told you something different.....
 
Hi nick
Good of u to add an explanation. As with a lot of beeking, what u do next depends largely on what have u already done. If you have fed yr girls a lot of syrup u and/or ur mentor should be able to tell if they have enough stores by hefting the hive or doing the maths to work it out. If they have enough stores why put on fondant at all? WAIT til they need it. One doesn't just put fondant on because it's winter - one puts it on because it's needed. Check ur hive to see the weight, put a varroa floor in to see where the cluster is, how active are they etc. More activity - more stores used. What are the bees telling u? Let's us know yr decision.
Eb
 
I have today put the floor back in each hive.

Again I have hefted and they do seem heavy - and I can hear the bees in each hive.

I am confident they had enough syrup - but I wanted to put fondant on in case they needed it. I don't mind the cost of this as long as the bees are ok.
 
I should add I will be doing the OA treatment this week so can check the colony size, location in any event I think.
 
Remember when u OxA, not to keep crown board open longer than necessary. If the cluster is right there under the crown board a dollop of fondant may well be in order. Wrap it well so it doesn't harden too fast and put it over hole/s in crown board with a slit in the wrapping. Squish it down onto the holes so that the slit opens up and the fondant goes thru the slit onto the top of the bees/frames. If u can fit ur insulation back in place over the fondant and under the roof so much the better. When I feed I use half a block of fondant (6kg) at a time but only coz I can't lift a whole one!

Eb
 
Feeding in winter

I doubt it VERY much ooooops sorry, am I going on a bit?:sifone:

John Wilkinson

Look out for your planes John, the Egos are about to land;)
regards
TBRNoTB

PS Where is the show?
 

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