Feeding new colony

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and is wasted on someone genuinely asking for opinions in a learning situation. Your advice may be appropriate in one climate and not in another. Britain is a country of micro-climates or has no one ever listened to a weather forecast that includes more than their own area. The key to me seems to be a combination of temperatures and space.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Chance of rain later - think i'll get me coat

 

[Finman]

Your advice may be appropriate in one climate and not in another. .

Listen now. Human branes and bees are everywhere the same.
If I would live in UK, I would take there with my skills 200 kg honey from hive. You get only 15 kg. Don't explain anything about climate. It is all between your ears.

And sarcaism I learned on my trips in England.

Stupid questions I understand but not stupid answers.

.

.

 

[oliver90owner]

I will keep being guided by my mentor as he is telling me to feed & I will bear in mind everyone's replies

There must be a reason why he is suggesting that - but I fail to note it myself. I believe you need a better mentor - someone who actually thinks about the bee colony and its needs.

Yours need more brood NOT more stores or even wax ready to store it in. Wax and other duties take away house bees from servicing brood, so the queen is unable to lay as many eggs as she could otherwise. That in turn means in three weeks time there will be fewer house bees than their might have been if the current house bees had concentrated on brooding duties instead of unecessary wax building. Get it?

Read and learn the basics of beekeeping; particularly the inspection list - especially the question as to whether there is adequate stores present until the next inspection.

Lastly, why bother to ask if you are not going to follow the advice unless it agrees with what you are already doing? The post of a typical new beek that knows nothing and is not prepared to think about the needs of the colony, or to make simple observations.

Seen it all before time and time again.

RAB

 

[Little John]

Stupid answers I understand but not stupid answers.

Are you sure ?

LJ

 

[Finman]

Are you sure ?

LJ

No, now I see

My head is full ow writings when guys feed they hives and at same time others say that all places are full of honey and nectar and honey is in wrong place.

So it is but the standard methods in this forum deliver stupid answers. This is endless story.

- frames are full - can't extract
- hive is full - can't buy more boxes
- hive is strong if it has over 4 frames.
- when hive is growing, you must split it that it does not grow...

One hive grows like grazy and so on....

.








.

 

[beefaye]

getting insulted on this forum is more painful than being stung - all this abuse just because I asked if people have ever watered down ambrosia !!!!

Gimme a break with the feeding - it was a four frame colony that I was feeding for 4 weeks to get them kicked started - not worth the apocolyptic tales of swarming or the attempts at sarcasm

I did not ignore any of the advice given by the forum and took it all to my association weekly meeting to discuss. We talked over all the reasons for why/where/when to feed and I had stuck to the same regime that they used for their 4 new nucs & it has worked well for all colonies.

I also used this same method for my 7 hives last year that I then passed onto new keepers this year without any colony loss.

I take the beekeeping seriously and don't take any action that I am unsure of without discussing with trainers & mentors. I also use the knowledge I gained from 3 years of assoc training, workshops and weekly meetings as well as my SBA work.

Do not tarnish all new keepers with the same brush. We may only have a couple of hives but spend a vast amount of money on setting up our 'hobby' and hundreds of training hours. People providing comments should be supportive and not judgemental and trust that people asking the questions take everything they are being told and dilute it to suit their hive & what they observe. You shouldn't be using the site to get your kicks from insulting other members.

I love this forum for the hints & tips provided by those posting & learn a lot but I have been taught the hard way never to ask another question on here, no matter how trivial I think it is

now that I have vented, I am escaping to my apiary for some bee time to chill out before the thunder storms start over bonnie Scotland

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I fed my nuc the first week on the advice of the (v reputable) seller but it went straight into cells. The Red Queen Unseen is not short of space but definitely seems to have slowed her lay this week, and supplies are pouring in. Maybe the journey and hiving disrupted a bit but I suspect house bees are overworked and based on this thread I shall feed no more. Finman, I appreciate your robust opinions.

 

[pargyle]

getting insulted on this forum is more painful than being stung - all this abuse just because I asked if people have ever watered down ambrosia !!!!
/QUOTE]



Unfortunately, you brought some of this on yourself ... people here provide suggestions because they feel some sympathy with the plight of their fellow beekeepers (new and old alike). You get differing advice and sometimes a less than sympathetic bedside manner from some beeks but ... having been given some very good advice about excessive feeding - which will result in the bees storing sugar solution and possibly swarming when they fill the hive up - you rather openly chose to poo poo the greater majority of advice given in favour of your mentor's suggestion.

It's sad that you feel you will never want to ask a question here again - there are some excellent beekeepers in a wide diversity of beekeeping types and it's a valuable resource when you can't find an answer elsewhere. A lot of us have suffered, occasionally, with some pert responses to our comments - but a thick skin is rather a pre-requisite of any on line forum and this one is no exception.

 

[Finman]

.
So simple, Does hive need feeding in the middle of summer (NOW), when a good nectar flow is on.

Answer is NO, absolutely NO. Because the most important is that new colony gets maximum amount of brood . That is only thing what a colony needs. When it get s new bees, it continues comb building.

Natural flow fills brood combs more than needed.



How it can be more complex.

Why simple question can get 20 different answers.

Answers is tha males want to be a cock on the compost heap.

How do I do 1:1 syrup? - Answers will be at least 50. How is it possible?

.

 

[itma]

...
I did not ignore any of the advice given by the forum and took it all to my association weekly meeting to discuss. We talked over all the reasons for why/where/when to feed and I had stuck to the same regime that they used for their 4 new nucs & it has worked well for all colonies.
...

"Listen to the bees" is a useful mantra.

"Sticking to a regime" is the very opposite of noticing and responding to the particular conditions in your colony/colonies.

 

[Finman]

.
My mantra: It is your bees and your problems.

.

 

[BILL.HEARD]

"Listen to the bees" is a useful mantra.

"Sticking to a regime" is the very opposite of noticing and responding to the particular conditions in your colony/colonies.

I agree, with the current heavy flows no feeding should be required even for late swarms, but swarming for the year has basically finished now.
Consider feeding only after all the supers are off and you can see the state and amount of stores in brood chambers, depending on the weather these stores can be further augmented by late flows from ivy etc

 

[pargyle]

.
So simple, Does hive need feeding in the middle of summer (NOW), when a good nectar flow is on.

Answer is NO, absolutely NO. Because the most important is that new colony gets maximum amount of brood .
Why simple question can get 20 different answers.

I don't think they did this time Finman - You hit the nail on the head and everyone agreed with you ...

That's got to be a first !!

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

+1. but we need to have a good chat about your crazy ideas on 1:1 syrup-making

 

[user 6228]

I think it's ok to give a couple of litres of syrup to a newly hived swarm... But that's about it.

 

[itma]

... swarming for the year has basically finished now. ...

Some would question that assertion!

Well I'm pleased with myself as I just got my first swarm. They were my bees that had swarmed.... but nevertheless actually being able to get them out of a hedge and in a box was quite an achievement for a new beek ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

swarming for the year has basically finished now.

Tell that to the lot that moved into the bait hive on the field last weekend - or the ones that moved into the Garn cottage bait hive the same time, or the small cast swarm I retrieved from the hedge the same weekend, or the swarm that's just moved into the other bait hive on the field this weekend, or the pile of scout bees checking out the empty hives and bait hives in the apiary or...........................................

 

[BILL.HEARD]

Tell that to the lot that moved into the bait hive on the field last weekend - or the ones that moved into the Garn cottage bait hive the same time, or the small cast swarm I retrieved from the hedge the same weekend, or the swarm that's just moved into the other bait hive on the field this weekend, or the pile of scout bees checking out the empty hives and bait hives in the apiary or...........................................

None from my stocks for several weeks now and no callouts in this part of Devon, I would have thought the heavy flow most of us have been experiencing would have finished it for this year, obviously not in your part of the world!

 

[Hivemaker.]

None from my stocks for several weeks now and no callouts in this part of Devon, I would have thought the heavy flow most of us have been experiencing would have finished it for this year, obviously not in your part of the world!

No swarming here either Bill, in fact very very few have gone into swarming mode.