No brood break,pollen patti?

[Nannysbees]

If the weather stays mild and there isn't much of a brood break how are the bees going to feed the larvae if there is little or no pollen around? Quite a lot of bees flying yesterday. Is the stored honey and fondant enough or should I think about a pollen patti ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

If there is insufficient food the queen will slow down. I’ve hardly ever bothered with patties in early spring. The bees are in tune with their environment after all.

 

[enrico]

Mine are still brooding quite heavily with pollen going in every day. Weighed yesterday and all hives have lost about 4 lbs since end of feeding.

 

[Murox]

Continual 12+ degree temperatures in mid winter, can play havoc with their winter stores; brood rearing uses so much. Some colonies are bound to have better stores than others and some will read the season better too. Some might start galloping away if the warmth continues, though the paucity of pollen is likely to be a local to you problem dependant upon forage sources. I think the Scouting motto applies “BE PREPARED”.

It's good to have young bees going into winter - a longer life span - more to warm the brood nest as the queen increases laying in a 'normal' season etc. but It might also invite varroa to lay eggs - new mites then feed on the new brood during the winter and early spring ….......

 

[Finman]

Pollen patty is not good enough food to larvae.
When pollen is out in the hive, bees eate first their larvae. That is their natural system.

On another hand continuous brood rearing tells, that the bees are not properly adapted to the local nature. They should stop brood rearing when pollen foraging is stopped outside.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The danger with feeding pollen substitues at this time of the year is....... they may just (unlikely, but may) work, so what you will then get is a rapid population buildup and still no forage around, and they'll starve.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees usually find their own balance.
Carbohydrate on the other hand is a different matter

 

[madasafish]

I don't even think about pollen patties till March And judging by hive temperatures, little - if any - brood. We had cold November/early December with snow.

 

[Finman]

It is not long time to the Spring. Look at the hive that it has enough food for 2 months.

But it is better that it cannot rear brood during winter. Those bees which feed brood, they will not live long. They will consume their whole fatbody in feeding larvae. And emerged bees cannot generate their fatbody with pollen patty.

 

[The Poot]

With the huge amounts of ivy pollen gathered well into December (here at least) I can’t see there will be a dearth situation.
Though brood rearing is continuing, the cluster size is not huge.

 

[Finman]

Though brood rearing is continuing, the cluster size is not huge.

Ivy pollen and nectar store takes its own space from brood area.

But it depends on hive, how it is going.
There are much countries in south, whose climate is much more warmer that Britain's.
Warm climate is good for bees. They are from Africa.

 

[Nannysbees]

All makes sense, thank you