honey
New Bee
Hi all,
I did an inspection on Sunday & added Apivar strips to the hive. For the first time since I got my bees in July, I saw one bee with an obvious varroa mite on it during the inspection, but that was all. Queen was present & active but I noticed a lot less brood than previous inspections - about a 1/4 of what there usually is in there.
At this time of year, is this ok? Or something to worry about?
The bees have plenty of honey stores, I have been feeding them since I got them in July, as they were only a small caste of about 5,000 & was told to feed them up. They are now covering 7 frames.
Can I also ask, should I now switch to 1 kilo sugar / 1 pint water (have been feeding half & half so far as advised)? How long do you feed your bees for? Some people at my local assoc. say until the bees stop taking it, while others say their bees keep on taking it through the winter! Which would mean - do they ever stop?!
I did an inspection on Sunday & added Apivar strips to the hive. For the first time since I got my bees in July, I saw one bee with an obvious varroa mite on it during the inspection, but that was all. Queen was present & active but I noticed a lot less brood than previous inspections - about a 1/4 of what there usually is in there.
At this time of year, is this ok? Or something to worry about?
The bees have plenty of honey stores, I have been feeding them since I got them in July, as they were only a small caste of about 5,000 & was told to feed them up. They are now covering 7 frames.
Can I also ask, should I now switch to 1 kilo sugar / 1 pint water (have been feeding half & half so far as advised)? How long do you feed your bees for? Some people at my local assoc. say until the bees stop taking it, while others say their bees keep on taking it through the winter! Which would mean - do they ever stop?!