First time fondant

[Rob55]

My poly nuc seems a little light on stores or maybe I am just paranoid with all my bees activity in this mild weather, so I rolled out 500g of fondant and put it on top of the frames. I will be able to monitor how it goes through the clear crown board but just wondering how long is this likely to last and did I put on too much at one time? It is rolled flat and covers almost half the hive.

 

[protheroe]

i have had fondant on all my nucs for a month and they have hardly touched it but its there if they need it.I gave them a kilo each

 

[BeeJayBee]

It depends on the size of the colony/temperature/activity, but they could get through that much in just a few days if they've finished their own stores.

If you give them what ends up being too much, it can be either stored in a sealed plastic container, or mixed with water to give a spring feed. It needn't go to waste.

 

[Sir Quej]

I have had a block of fondant on each of my hives all winter. Each hive had a house brick sized block wrapped in clingfilm and placed on top of the crown board. When I did my oa treatments, all three blocks were nearly all gone and it doesnt look like they have even touched thier stores tbh.

All three colonies look pretty strong 8/9 seams of bees each so I'm pretty happy really.....

 

[enrico]

I have had a block of fondant on each of my hives all winter. Each hive had a house brick sized block wrapped in clingfilm and placed on top of the crown board. When I did my oa treatments, all three blocks were nearly all gone and it doesnt look like they have even touched thier stores tbh.

All three colonies look pretty strong 8/9 seams of bees each so I'm pretty happy really.....

I wouldn't use any more then! Make them eat their stores if it is syrup otherwise it will go in the spring honey!
E

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks for the advice enrico. I was thinking about removing any Fondant that was left at the end of January for exactly that reason. What do you think?

 

[BeeJayBee]

The end of January would be a bit early, I'd think. February can be an awful month.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks Beejoyful, end of Feb it is then.

 

[enrico]

Not when you have a hive full of stores, end of January sounds good to me!

 

[Sir Quej]

I'll go for mid Feb then....lol

Somewhere in the middle.

 

[Rob55]

Went out for a looksie today, 8c and raining... didn't seem to bother the bees, a steady stream flying in and out of the entrance!

Had a peek in on the fondant (beauty of a clear crown board), there were a few bees on it but not that many, certainly nothing like the number that flock onto the rapid feeder to the syrup.

Will keep observing!

 

[oliver90owner]

flying in and out of the entrance!

That's good news! Worry when they are only going out and none returning! Or if they are robbers!

 

[Rob55]

Well to follow up - the original fondant is now completely gone so I added another dose today. It *looks* like I still have a nice healthy (fiesty!) nuc of bees, plenty made an appearance when I whipped off the perspex crownboard.

In theory if I just keep a close eye on them and add fondant as required, they should hopefully see it through to Spring time? Is there anything else I should watch for in particular - I have been told this time of year is particularly dangerous for losing a colony.

 

[enrico]

Nope, you're doing ok, just don't be too eager to 'get in to them!'

 

[Easy Beesy]

Rob55
Getting a Nuc thru winter is no mean feat - is the Nuc a 14x12 too? Gives space for a goodly sum of bees and better overwintering than a National Nuc IMO. Sounds like you're doing fine.

 

[Rob55]

Yes it is a 14x12 nuc, unfortunately I lost a swarm at the very end of last summer and my hive numbers plummeted, so I bought a poly nuc and swapped them over and hoped for the best!

 

[John M]

I have done similar and they are consuming at a similar rate to yours in both of the poly nucs I am using. A wooden hive with newspapers above the fondant is ok too but one that I didn't insulate above has died. Sounds like you are doing fine. I like the poly more and more - my fault that one in wood died though

 

[Rob55]

Thought I would put up some pics from my quick peek today (7c here). Clear crown board is really handy for a quick look. About 10 days ago I put on three good slabs of thinly rolled fondant, they seem to be getting through it quite quickly. Have a niggle they don't have many stores left of their own.

Pics

 

[itma]

One excellent thing about poly is that the weight you 'heft' is essentially all stores.
The box and frames don't weigh much.
You'd be very lucky to have much more than a kilo of wax and bees (at this point of the season).
And the box doesn't gain weight of its own in wet weather.
So you can get a much better 'feel' for how light they are getting than you can with a wooden box.

I'd suggest adding more fondant before there is any risk they run out.
When they start the population explosion of Spring, their daily food consumption increases dramatically - so stores disappear at an increasing rate.

Don't be caught out by the acceleration!

 

[Rob55]

Cheers Itma, will do just that! They were pretty pissed off the last time I opened them up and I had a bit of a job getting the crown board on again with the bridge comb, fondant and the mass of bees which appeared. Think this time I'll get the smoker going and scrape the bridge comb off to make room for more fondant. Really should have bought another eke!!