As a result of a resurgence in hobby beekeeping (brought about by the constant, but dubious, reminders that 'the bees are in trouble' ) coupled with a lot of people who started keeping bees during Covid - when mentors and any training was difficult or almost impossible - there are a large number of people keeping bees that lack anything more than a very basic knowledge of beekeeping. They tend to grasp and react to whatever nonsense is published by our national association and when they say 'starvation warning' ... they fail to say ... but CHECK YOUR BEES BEFORE feeding them.
I've recently been in touch with a second year beekeeper asking me whether they should be feeding their bees as a result of this warning... and in the next sentence asking me whether they should take the two supers on the hive off first ! I was lucky - in my early years of beekeeping I had someone who taught me to THINK before acting and I also found this forum very early on and the guidance of some very good beekeepers, some od them sadly no longer with us.
I see similar questions coming up on here and I'm grateful that people are answering them with common sense and answers that might make those brave people asking the questions think about what they are doing and become better beekeepers as a result,
More importantly, it is wider, unseen, audience on here that may also benefit. I feel we have a duty on here to encourage, inform and educate new beekeepers and those who may have missed out on some aspects of modern beekeeping - the BBKA courses and the bee books don't always tell the full story.
This forum is also a wonderful sounding board for those of us with a bit more experience - who come across something unusual - because there will ALWAYS be someone who has seen it before - even if they don't have all the answers !
Many thanks for the explanation Paul. Not having been here very long, I've not witnessed very many of these
'knee-jerk reactions without prior thought.'
I've been quite isolated with my beekeeping experiences. I was able to draw on the immense knowledge of Albert who originally taught me and he would watch over me for about five years until he passed on.
I like to mention his name from time to time because he was held in very great respect by beekeepers in the area but he otherwise 'kept himself to himself' and after he died, he seems to have passed into obscurity which is a very great shame.
I went to a number of local 'Beekeeper meetings and events with Albert, especially after he had to give up driving himself but once he was gone I never really had the time to join beekeeping associations /clubs/ groups. I simply continued along on my own, sorting out any problems as they occurred and thankfully never having any catastrophes. Whether I have benefited or suffered from that isolation I have no idea.
I discovered varroa when I bought some new National Hives with an open mesh floor. I was educated by the beekeeper who had built them, but the colonies I had were thriving and Albert's mantra of
"don't keep interfering" was always in my ears. So I welcomed the open mesh floor as a 'fix', but now, after listening to, or rather reading conversations in this forum I realise I now need to do a little more.
Perhaps If I'd been exposed to keepers looking after bees
'by the numbers' instead of reasoning things out first and using common sense, I might not have been quite so surprised at the comments. Albert taught me to listen to the bees and watch them too, to the point where he would stand in front of a hive for a few minutes and then shake his head
"They don't want us a' messing wiv 'em today, boy. We'll gi 'em a look on the morrow".
A couple of times, after I had taken him home without opening the hives, I would come back and still have a look inside despite what had been said. Each time the normally very docile hives were fractious and stroppy. The following day, when Albert gave the go ahead, all the bees were relaxed and calm again!
Of course, somebody driving twenty miles to go and check forty or fifty hives doesn't have that sort luxury!
Oh dear! This has become a rather long 'acknowledgement and thank you'.
Malcolm B.
. The rest had some worked/ nectar/capped and some undrawn foundation. I'm brood 1.5 so its reassuring to see capped stores to the edges in the "half". 
