Poly Hive
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2008
- Messages
- 14,097
- Reaction score
- 402
- Location
- Scottish Borders
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 12 and 18 Nucs
There seems to be a bit of confusion about the whys and wherefores of giving the colonies some syrup and pollen patty at this time of year.
Please do not confuse Autumn feeding with Spring stimulation. In Autumn the target is to get as much feed as possible into the colonies.
In Spring the aim is quite different.
Lets play what if?
It is a balmy Feb in the year ?, and day after day the bees fly freely collecting the bounteous pollen from the hazel and willows, with the odd drop of nectar coming their way too. The colony responds to the lengthening day light by pushing the queen on to lay in the empty cells cleaned out by the feeding winter cluster. All is well.
Reality check. It is February in 2011, the rain is teeming down and the temperature is some 5 C.
The bees are responding to the longer daylight hours but there is no income to give them a morale boost.
The beekeeper rightly recognising that there is an issue gives pints and pints of feed with the best of intentions. The colony gratefully stores this bounty, and all is well?
No in fact as the over generous beekeeper has promptly filled up the very cells that the queen should be laying in.
At this time in this weather if you want to push your bees on then they need a pollen source, and they need a gentle stimulus of a pint of light syrup 1:1 a week or less. The syrup is for two reasons, it saves the bees having to collect water, and boosts morale by virtue of some "income" and the patty does the same by providing a pollen source regardless of the weather so the bees can decide they are safe to make progress.
I call it reducing stress, and insurance.
I hope this is clear enough.
PH
Please do not confuse Autumn feeding with Spring stimulation. In Autumn the target is to get as much feed as possible into the colonies.
In Spring the aim is quite different.
Lets play what if?
It is a balmy Feb in the year ?, and day after day the bees fly freely collecting the bounteous pollen from the hazel and willows, with the odd drop of nectar coming their way too. The colony responds to the lengthening day light by pushing the queen on to lay in the empty cells cleaned out by the feeding winter cluster. All is well.
Reality check. It is February in 2011, the rain is teeming down and the temperature is some 5 C.
The bees are responding to the longer daylight hours but there is no income to give them a morale boost.
The beekeeper rightly recognising that there is an issue gives pints and pints of feed with the best of intentions. The colony gratefully stores this bounty, and all is well?
No in fact as the over generous beekeeper has promptly filled up the very cells that the queen should be laying in.
At this time in this weather if you want to push your bees on then they need a pollen source, and they need a gentle stimulus of a pint of light syrup 1:1 a week or less. The syrup is for two reasons, it saves the bees having to collect water, and boosts morale by virtue of some "income" and the patty does the same by providing a pollen source regardless of the weather so the bees can decide they are safe to make progress.
I call it reducing stress, and insurance.
I hope this is clear enough.
PH
