RoseCottage
Field Bee
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2009
- Messages
- 718
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Near Andover, UK
- Hive Type
- WBC
- Number of Hives
- From 5 to 2 and hopefully a better year
So I took off our remaining honey a month ago and then fed them a couple of kilos of sugar to help them along during their varroa treatment.
Both our hives had a super on top of a deep bb.
I was a little surprised that the girls didn't store any honey in the supers (which were pretty well empty) but took it all down into the BB.
I was also a little concerned as this seemed to reduce the amount of laying space for the queen.
We checked both hives about 8 days ago and they were very busy in the warm weather bringing in pollen. The queen, however, in both hives was only really laying on 2 or 3 frames at one end of the hive. She was also laying some drone eggs too.
So I figured that rather than Winter feed I would give her some time to continue to lay if she felt she needed (perhaps the treatment had put her off her stride a little). If she was laying some drones I assumed she was still thinking she had laying to do and wasn't trying stop for year end.
So I intend to visit at the end of the week and am now conscious that the glorious weather is beginning to ebb away. Do people think that it is time to start serious winter feeding or shall I let them enjoy the ivy a little longer and give her more time to lay?
What are others doing, and how are you assessing your hives and making yor judgements?
I remember Finman earlier in the year reminding everyone that when winter feeding starts they will only take a week to fill up their stores.
The BB is already quite heavy with all frames feeling heavy to the touch (probably 8 frames in each with just stores). Frames are not capped yet, well they were not 8 days ago, and some of the cells held white crystallised stores. These I assumed are Sugar Syrup that is being dried out by the girls.
All the best,
Sam.
Both our hives had a super on top of a deep bb.
I was a little surprised that the girls didn't store any honey in the supers (which were pretty well empty) but took it all down into the BB.
I was also a little concerned as this seemed to reduce the amount of laying space for the queen.
We checked both hives about 8 days ago and they were very busy in the warm weather bringing in pollen. The queen, however, in both hives was only really laying on 2 or 3 frames at one end of the hive. She was also laying some drone eggs too.
So I figured that rather than Winter feed I would give her some time to continue to lay if she felt she needed (perhaps the treatment had put her off her stride a little). If she was laying some drones I assumed she was still thinking she had laying to do and wasn't trying stop for year end.
So I intend to visit at the end of the week and am now conscious that the glorious weather is beginning to ebb away. Do people think that it is time to start serious winter feeding or shall I let them enjoy the ivy a little longer and give her more time to lay?
What are others doing, and how are you assessing your hives and making yor judgements?
I remember Finman earlier in the year reminding everyone that when winter feeding starts they will only take a week to fill up their stores.
The BB is already quite heavy with all frames feeling heavy to the touch (probably 8 frames in each with just stores). Frames are not capped yet, well they were not 8 days ago, and some of the cells held white crystallised stores. These I assumed are Sugar Syrup that is being dried out by the girls.
All the best,
Sam.