Sad state of affairs at the home apiary!

[jeff33]

I managed to finish inspecting the home apiary which had 10 hives + 2 nucs going into winter. 2 of the hives had laying workers and another one had failed queens with both mother and daughter present. They both met the same post!! remaining 7 are queen right with the strongest having only 4 frames of brood. The 2 nucs are the strongest of the lot!

 

[Ian123]

I had the first proper look in a good few today and way behind on most years. I squished 2 drone laying queens and a queen from a random swarm last year. I united with 3 small nucs with a spray of lynx and popped the queens into cages.
Like I said Jeff mine are well behind with little patches of sealed drone brood at best! I’ve seen more drone brood end of feb beginning of March in previous years
I’m always astounded even after all these years how quickly they turn around though given a bit of decent weather!
I’d planned on some early queen rearing and had hoped to start probably in a weeks time but there’s little point atm
On a positive note I only lost 1 breeder queen over winter turning drone layer and they got united weeks ago and was no great surprise.

 

[jeff33]

Yes, way behind indeed. For the last few years I have been doing some demaree towards the end of April but unlikely to happen this year. They are bringing in some nectar, dandelion has started here

I was planning to start raising drone brood in 2-3 weeks time but may have to wait a bit.

 

[judy12]

I've had a disaster, first time for this: bees in one hive starved in spite of having fondant in the hive. Is it possible that my homemade fondant was too hard for them to access?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

did they starve?
or was there another reason?
How much did you feed them in the autumn?
how many (dead) bees were left in the hive?

 

[judy12]

I'd say a side and a half of a frame of bees were left in the hive, bottoms sticking out of the cells and some hardened fondant on top.

 

[judy12]

Just checked my notes - they had 4 brood and 6 super frames of honey after feeding in autumn.

 

[Ian123]

Hi Judy by the sound of it the colony may have been better in a single box and then well fed. Match the box to the size of bees and ensure it’s packed. Sounds like they weren’t even filling both boxes if they only had those frames full? Fondant or by the sound of it your home made candy needs to be in contact with the bees for them to use it! Stuck on top with a box between it and the bees it may as well be a mile away.

 

[judy12]

Thanks for that good advice, Ian. I've. developed the habit of keeping a super on over winter when it possibly wasn't necessary.

 

[jeff33]

Thanks for that good advice, Ian. I've. developed the habit of keeping a super on over winter when it possibly wasn't necessary.

I rarely (if ever) leave supers on. I tend to remove all supers 2nd week of August as the flow is mostly over so they can store everything in the brood box. This is topped up by the ivy in September and by syrup in October.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Starvation may have been the ultimate cause of death, but by the sounds of the size of the cluster they had dwindled beyond redemption.
How strong were they at the end of the year?
were they treated for varroa in the autumn? when and with what?

 

[JamezF]

I don't think you can read too much into the state of the fondant now. It may have solidified after the colony died out.

James

 

[simonforeman]

Yes, way behind indeed. For the last few years I have been doing some demaree towards the end of April but unlikely to happen this year. They are bringing in some nectar, dandelion has started here

I was planning to start raising drone brood in 2-3 weeks time but may have to wait a bit.

I managed to finish inspecting the home apiary which had 10 hives + 2 nucs going into winter. 2 of the hives had laying workers and another one had failed queens with both mother and daughter present. They both met the same post!! remaining 7 are queen right with the strongest having only 4 frames of brood. The 2 nucs are the strongest of the lot!

I checked all my 20 hives and nucs yesterday here in south lincs in the sunshine and was thinking exactly the same. Most only on 4 frames of brood. A couple were on 6 frames.

The OSR is starting to yellow up here so what would people do, let them put what they collect into the brood box?

 

[user 20297]

I checked all my 20 hives and nucs yesterday here in south lincs in the sunshine and was thinking exactly the same. Most only on 4 frames of brood. A couple were on 6 frames.

The OSR is starting to yellow up here so what would people do, let them put what they collect into the brood box?

Good question....wondering the same.

 

[jeff33]

The OSR is starting to yellow up here so what would people do, let them put what they collect into the brood box?

Well, the amount coming in will be relative to the workforce. The queen will start laying like crazy at the first sniff of a flow so be careful letting them store in the BB as it's sure way to restrict brood nest expansion.

You could let them do that for a few days, removing full frames of stores and giving empty drawn ones for the queen to lay in. Personally, I would put a super on and let decide where they want to store it, less faff.

 

[ericbeaumont]

let them put what they collect into the brood box?

Only if you want them to swarm. Some OSR doesn't produce much nectar these days, but let's say the glass is half full and nectar pours in. If it does, get a couple of BBs of foundation ready to put on above the QX. Extract when the flowers fade and you'll have a stack of clean new combs.

Keep the BB below the QX as clear of nectar as you can; check and rotate out as Jeff suggested.

 

[simonforeman]

Ok thanks. So even with 4 frames of brood add a super when the flow starts?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Ok thanks. So even with 4 frames of brood add a super when the flow starts?

Yes, because otherwise the BB will be clogged and they will swarm. It's a standard outcome of OSR. Didn't take into account that your colony isn't strong, so perhaps supers (plural) will be enough.

 

[ericbeaumont]

way behind on most years

way behind indeed

Well, that's odd: today I was in South Herts. (a way South from Robin Dartington) and went through 12 v strong DBB colonies. If I'd had any BBs on board I'd have tripled 9 of them, because nectar is coming in fast and brood slabs are looking good.



On Tuesday I was in Dagenham and went through 6 and oh, dear, DBBs rammed. Supers went on the lot, and I'm ready for a split tomorrow on the one with open QCs (oops).

These colonies are nothing out of the ordinary: nice DBB colonies of mongrel bees treated late last year with Apivar and, well that's it (except I didn't get to treat the Dagenham apiary as I lost 6 weeks in August to Covid, so gassed them 3x recently).

 

[jeff33]

@ericbeaumont they look very good indeed. At least I won't have to worry about swarm control for another few weeks . Still got 2 apiaries to check tomorrow and the verdict will fall.