NBU/FERA starvation warning

[user 6228]

Good job they dont claim child benefit.

.....or let drones hang around for the winter

The Daily Mail says its all them foreign bees claiming housing and sugar...

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

The Daily Mail says its all them foreign bees claiming housing and sugar...

The UK population swarmed consistently throughout the UK's history (cast swarms, sort of). Less easy now.

 

[mbc]

The Daily Mail says its all them foreign bees claiming housing and sugar...

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

I think bees satisfy this quite well.

 

[cjhart2]

Good job they dont claim child benefit.

.....or let drones hang around for the winter

It’s those 10,000 immigrant queens that arrive in the post each year .

 

[Dishmop]

It’s those 10,000 immigrant queens that arrive in the post each year .

Lady Boys by post?

 

[Chris Luck]

Lady Boys by post?

Sex trade industry, mostly young girls.

Chris

 

[bontbee]

Hefted?

Starved?

Pollen?

Give me strength.

Chris

Sorry Chris, I haven't had chance to look at the forum since you posted your reply (#17), but could you explain your comments, please?

With all the advice that colonies shouldn't be disturbed until March/April/May or whenever, or until you can be comfortable in a tee shirt or whatever, why are you so dismissive of someone who has lost bees despite following advice to check on the hives' weight? It's very confusing for beginners. Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain my colleague's error.

thanks

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Sorry Chris, I haven't had chance to look at the forum since you posted your reply (#17), but could you explain your comments, please?

With all the advice that colonies shouldn't be disturbed until March/April/May or whenever, or until you can be comfortable in a tee shirt or whatever, why are you so dismissive of someone who has lost bees despite following advice to check on the hives' weight? It's very confusing for beginners. Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain my colleague's error.

thanks

Yes I didn't understand that either. But this thread is giving me swarming nightmares.

 

[Chris Luck]

Sorry Chris, I haven't had chance to look at the forum since you posted your reply (#17), but could you explain your comments, please?

With all the advice that colonies shouldn't be disturbed until March/April/May or whenever, or until you can be comfortable in a tee shirt or whatever, why are you so dismissive of someone who has lost bees despite following advice to check on the hives' weight? It's very confusing for beginners. Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain my colleague's error.

thanks

This can't be true.

I agree. A colleague of mine hefted hives, felt they were of sufficient weight, but when he peeked in, found a starved colony surrounded by pollen.

With the best will in the world a colony can't go from heavy to starved in the blink of an eye and pollen weighs next to nothing. Either the colony wasn't up to weight in the first place or they failed for other reasons.

Not your fault but you may be best advised to take any advice from your colleague, (or anyone else), with caution.

Personally I don't open my hives between end of September 'til mid March and then only to add supers.

Chris

 

[pargyle]

This can't be true.

I agree. A colleague of mine hefted hives, felt they were of sufficient weight, but when he peeked in, found a starved colony surrounded by pollen.

With the best will in the world a colony can't go from heavy to starved in the blink of an eye and pollen weighs next to nothing. Either the colony wasn't up to weight in the first place or they failed for other reasons.

Not your fault but you may be best advised to take any advice from your colleague, (or anyone else), with caution.

Personally I don't open my hives between end of September 'til mid March and then only to add supers.

Chris

What Chris didn't say ... but is implied .. is that if they died out then there is possibly a reason other than starvation that caused the colony to die. What he has said here is very basic beekeeping ...

Your friend needs to look a bit closer at the evidence ... Nosema ?

If they did, indeed, starve then the signs are usually dead bees with their heads down in empty cells .. a truly sad looking situation. If your friend (like me ?) can't be certain that he is sufficiently confident in his hefting then he should start and look at weighing his hive on a regular basis to get a feel for what the weight is with varying levels of bees and stores ...

 

[Swarm]

I thought he did say?

Either the colony wasn't up to weight in the first place or they failed for other reasons.

 

[Chris Luck]

What Chris didn't say ... but is implied .. is that if they died out then there is possibly a reason other than starvation that caused the colony to die. What he has said here is very basic beekeeping ...

Your friend needs to look a bit closer at the evidence ... Nosema ?

If they did, indeed, starve then the signs are usually dead bees with their heads down in empty cells .. a truly sad looking situation. If your friend (like me ?) can't be certain that he is sufficiently confident in his hefting then he should start and look at weighing his hive on a regular basis to get a feel for what the weight is with varying levels of bees and stores ...

That's 'cos I'm a basic beekeeper.

One way to get the hang of hive weight is to get the feel of a more or less empty hive, perhaps best with a new colony / swarm that has a little more weight than an empty hive, then again four weeks later, perhaps again 6 weeks later and finally with a hive that you know is full weight AND lift / pivot first one side and then the other. Again stating the obvious a National will not be the same as a Dadant and so on and the materials used to construct the hive need to be taken into account as well.

Chris

 

[pargyle]

That's 'cos I'm a basic beekeeper.


Chris

That wasn't a slight on you Chris ... more a comment that what you were saying should't really need to be pointed out to even a very early stages beekeeper ... let alone one with 10 hives ...

My additional comments were to reinforce what you had said .. and perhaps spell out in single syllables the possibilities .. thanks Swarm .. yes he did ...

 

[Moggs]

I would say some of the decisions they make as individual colonies in order to survive display a remarkable degree of intelligence.







60,000 pinheads operating together, arguably with a far greater processing power than the sum of the parts. A super organism.

The really clever bit is that they've survived virtually unchanged for 50 million years, having shaped their environment to support them (and a wealth of other flora and fauna) from relatively primitive beginnings, I dont see humans managing a fraction of a blink of that success.

They are insects. They do not reason, they respond to various stimuli. To attribute this conditioned behaviour with intelligence is absurd.


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[Chris Luck]

That wasn't a slight on you Chris ... more a comment that what you were saying should't really need to be pointed out to even a very early stages beekeeper ... let alone one with 10 hives ...

My additional comments were to reinforce what you had said .. and perhaps spell out in single syllables the possibilities .. thanks Swarm .. yes he did ...

No, I know it wasn't and I like being a basic beekeeper, no frills and bells with me.

They are insects. They do not reason, they respond to various stimuli. To attribute this conditioned behaviour with intelligence is absurd.

That's that then and don't anyone even consider otherwise or they will get detention.

Chris

 

[mbc]

They are insects. They do not reason, they respond to various stimuli. To attribute this conditioned behaviour with intelligence is absurd.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How absurd would you like to go?

In my absurd opinion, not only are the tens of thousands of individual bees in each colony intrinsically linked, codependent and harmonious in thought and deed, but each colony is also acutely aware of all the other bee colonies within flying range of its nest and will make intelligent, pragmatic and unanimous decisions based on this knowledge. Rather than a simple response to stimuli, this knowledge can transcend the lifespan of individual bees and the colony can retain memory of all the occupied nest sites within its range from previous seasons. The 'hive mind' of these fantastic social insects elevates them far above the traditional, robotic perception we have of decisions made in the insect world.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How absurd would you like to go?

In my absurd opinion, not only are the tens of thousands of individual bees in each colony intrinsically linked, codependent and harmonious in thought and deed, but each colony is also acutely aware of all the other bee colonies within flying range of its nest and will make intelligent, pragmatic and unanimous decisions based on this knowledge. Rather than a simple response to stimuli, this knowledge can transcend the lifespan of individual bees and the colony can retain memory of all the occupied nest sites within its range from previous seasons. The 'hive mind' of these fantastic social insects elevates them far above the traditional, robotic perception we have of decisions made in the insect world.

 

[mbc]

Always nice to get confirmation my opinion is absurd, Jenkins

 

[Hivemaker.]

...http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=247

 

[itma]

They are insects. They do not reason, they respond to various stimuli. To attribute this conditioned behaviour with intelligence is absurd.


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Actually, the bright lads like Prof Seeley are seeing close parallels between individual bees role and that of individual neurones in the brain of a higher animal.
The decision-making ability of the colony - as a whole - is of a much higher order than that of the individual insects.