my hive that wasnt taking down syrup..

[biglongdarren]

there would have been a full hive of bees in june,i done an artifical swarm and there was eggs in july at sometime,they were moved into a nuc yesterday and i placed on some new syrup in a contact feeder,i thought with it being fresh and still warm they might take it but they werent on it today,
they have some stores of ivy honey that they brought in themselves,i dont want to take frames of stores from other hives and leave them short,i'll maybe just stick on some fondant and let them at it.
Darren

 

[biglongdarren]

one of my colonys refused to take fumadil b in syrup earlier this year, tried dilute, strong, thymol, lemon grass.....not a lot taken down

repsorted to 5~% honey mixed with the syrup......they wolfed it down and then took straight fumidil B on the next feed without a problem

i think they just dont like the taste of fumidil B and it is a quite common problem

but they had feed on before with no fumidil b in it and didnt take it either?

 

[RoseCottage]

Darren,
I would put some fondant on and see how they react to it. At this point some food is better than no food. Good luck with them this winter...I've a couple of difficult colonies too who really do seem to want to bite the hand that feeds them. One refuses to allow me close enough to refill their syrup - took several stings to my back, many ineffective hits on veil gloves, etc and had a couple worm their way up into my veil. Really made me question my motivation yesterday.


I intend to address them in spring if they get through winter.

All the best,
Sam

 

[Teemore]

Darren, I agree that the fondant feed is the way to proceed with this wee colony.

I have one colony that has taken down very little syrup but in my case they do have a very good weight of stores. I'll be doing the rounds of my colonies in the course of the next few weeks and putting on a bit of fondant over the feed hole(s). I know that some beekeepers prefer only to feed fondant where the hives are light but I am going to follow the example of my mentor who has had minimal winter losses over the past number of years and give them access to the fondant throughout the winter. By putting the fondant in a clear plastic food container, it is easy to see if they are using it and whether they need a top up.

On a digression, I see that you made the weekend papers Darren!!

 

[Meg]

Treat for nosema. Colony dwindling - not taking syrup - shrinking over the summer - can't deal with food. Quite a few clues there for nosema - probably ceranae - given the timing. Use vitafeed gold trickled every 2 days for a week and add a little to the feed. This is the only thing I know that you could do straightaway given that if they are not taking feed, then fumidil, thymol mixes in feed etc will obviously not work. Hopefully this will help. Maybe a bit too late 'though as these weakened bees are your winter ones and may not last long enough.

Meg

 

[Polyanwood]

I had bad nosema once and was advised to spray the bees with syrup with fumidilB in it. It was a messy 2 person job, but it worked. Sorry, can't remember the concentration - it was stronger than in the syrup you feed them.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I had bad nosema once and was advised to spray the bees with syrup with fumidilB in it. It was a messy 2 person job, but it worked. Sorry, can't remember the concentration - it was stronger than in the syrup you feed them.

2g per litre of 50/50 syrup,sprayed or trickled over the bees, about three times, about four days apart,then feed as normal.

 

[mbc]

but they had feed on before with no fumidil b in it and didnt take it either?

one symptom of nosemic bees is not taking feed

 

[mbc]

I was concerned they were building up too slowly and was going to give them a weak nuc a frame of brood but they'd decided to supersede in the meantime, making them even weaker and I had no idea if the new queen was viable.

.

Anothe rsymtpom of nosema can be early supercedure

 

[biglongdarren]

Darren, I agree that the fondant feed is the way to proceed with this wee colony.

I have one colony that has taken down very little syrup but in my case they do have a very good weight of stores. I'll be doing the rounds of my colonies in the course of the next few weeks and putting on a bit of fondant over the feed hole(s). I know that some beekeepers prefer only to feed fondant where the hives are light but I am going to follow the example of my mentor who has had minimal winter losses over the past number of years and give them access to the fondant throughout the winter. By putting the fondant in a clear plastic food container, it is easy to see if they are using it and whether they need a top up.

On a digression, I see that you made the weekend papers Darren!!

i had no idea i was in the paper,what paper was it? is it worth trying to get hold of a copy to see??
thanks.

 

[Teemore]

I spotted it in a mates house at the weekend - I think it was the Newsletter - possibly the Farming Life section - back page. Photograph with names and a write up about one of Dromore's recent lectures (bee flight). They mentioned that you were one of the younger members of the association!!

 

[biglongdarren]

i placed a tub of fondant on this hive last week and they are eating it, they are even building brace comb up into the tub....is this a good sign??
Darren.

 

[MuswellMetro]

i placed a tub of fondant on this hive last week and they are eating it, they are even building brace comb up into the tub....is this a good sign??
Darren.

quite common but can mean they have run out of space to put the syrup/fondant or more likely a lot of bored House Bees

 

[biglongdarren]

this was a hive of 3/4 frames that i moved into a nuc a few weeks ago,couldnt get them at any point to take syrup down,when i placed them in the six frame nuc,they had at least 3 frames to fill.
Darren

 

[RoseCottage]

Darren,
This sounds like good news...with this mild spell, your keen eye, and a little luck... spring may not seem so far away. I would pay close attention around Christmas and give more fondant if needed if they are light on stores. Perhaps a requeen in spring may help them too.
All the best,
Sam

 

[mazzamazda]

IMO small colonies can be strange when it comes to taking down syrup, however they do eat it when they need it. I had one earlier this year, I ended up joining 2 similar colonies then they took down 10kg plus.

 

[biglongdarren]

plus there is acres of ivy around my hives and i would say half of it is yet to flower,there has been as many bees out in this past week or two as i have seen all summer.
Darren.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

have you treated for nosema at all ?

 

[biglongdarren]

i tried a few times,but when they wouldnt touch the syrup,what was i to do?
Darren

 

[Hivemaker.]

i tried a few times,but when they wouldnt touch the syrup,what was i to do?
Darren

Spray them with medicated syrup,or trickle over the bees.