Stimulative feeding

[Curly green finger's]

Hi, I wanted to start a thread on stimulative feeding I'm now going into my four year of having bee's and as yet I've never feed my bee's on Clee Hill with 1:1 syrup..

Reasons there's always been forage. Ie pollen and Nectar sources in early spring. so there hasn't been a need but has there??

When the spring forage has started most hives have remnants of fondant left so I've not feed syrup.

After reading on here that feeding syrup should be only used if you have osr near by.

Your thoughts pls

 

[Beefriendly]

It's about timing. It's about 6 weeks from egg to foraging bee....so depends on your crop timings so around 2 months before, say the OSR in your region flowers.
Must confess never really seen much difference with my bees, possibly because its so damn cold they won't take down any syrup.. Our spring is so late to start compared with many other places...daffs are a week or two away and most crocus are just about to flower.

 

[For want of a better word]

Up on Dartmoor the feeders in the breeder drone supply colonies are kept topped up all year around, little forage about, but they seem to find plenty of pollen!

Chons da

 

[Stiffy]

It's about timing. It's about 6 weeks from egg to foraging bee....so depends on your crop timings so around 2 months before, say the OSR in your region flowers.
Must confess never really seen much difference with my bees, possibly because its so damn cold they won't take down any syrup.. Our spring is so late to start compared with many other places...daffs are a week or two away and most crocus are just about to flower.

I tried to stimulate colonies last year and got caught out with the beast from east. They appear to be building nicely without , so not trying this year.

It always amazes me how spring varies by county in this relatively small country. Our daffs which supply the flower markets and grown by thousands of acres have been in flower since before Christmas and are now starting to go over. Crocus, hazel, and cherry is in full flower and blackthorn starting to flower well, plus bluebells are advanced. Grasses on the other hand are very slow, mainly due I believe to being waterlogged.
S

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Unless you have a specific objective (such as an early buildup for queen rearing or OSR) I think it's a pretty pointless exercise and can have an adverse effect on the colony, what's the point of getting your colony all revved up if, let's say you get a prolonged cold spring? all you end up with is a big colony struggling to find food, struggling for pollen for brood rearing and then, by the time the weather comes along it's knackered and can't take advantage of a flow or, it's fit to burst and starts making swarm preparations.
I've never once fed light syrup in the spring to stimulate my bees - I let the weather do that and, by the time there is a decent amount of forage for them, they've had the willows for nectar and pollen and they're hot to trot.
More than once I heard a member of my old association bang on that he was just about to start giving his bees a spring stimulative feed as I was opening up the association apiary (not that far from his bees) to either put the first super on or wonder whether certain colonies need to go on double brood.
It's about time people started thinking, and working with their bees rather than blindly following a mantra that has not really been challenged for a century but thought up by a group which many in the past have been convinced has held the craft back in this country.

 

[Murox]

I think there should always be a good reason for stimulative feeding. If I'm trying to get loads of frames of foundation drawn they get a lot of feeding of 1:1 syrup. If I want a really big workforce I might also try and feed, but as BF points out its about timing (40 days from egg to forager) and having warm enough weather for them to take the syrup and the need for protein/pollen. Warmth maybe less of an issue with poly hives and feeders?

 

[Millet]

I have never had to feed mine any kind of sugar syrup in the spring time (YET)..when the time is right around the back of April to the beginning of June when the flow is on weather dependent the bees go berserk and draw and fill super at an alarming rate..last year it was touch and go whether i was going to run out of supers and start using brood boxes for supers..
I may be lucky as the bees have a huge amount of willow trees to gather early resources from right on there doorstep as well as a huge amount of mature wild cherry trees and blackthorn..shame it ends up mixed with the rape honey but i now have a use for any that i can not sell..

 

[Popparand]

It's about time people started thinking, and working with their bees rather than blindly following a mantra that has not really been challenged for a century but thought up by a group which many in the past have been convinced has held the craft back in this country.

Hear, hear!

 

[Swarm]

Unless you have a specific objective (such as an early buildup for queen rearing or OSR) I think it's a pretty pointless exercise and can have an adverse effect on the colony, what's the point of getting your colony all revved up if, let's say you get a prolonged cold spring? all you end up with is a big colony struggling to find food, struggling for pollen for brood rearing and then, by the time the weather comes along it's knackered and can't take advantage of a flow or, it's fit to burst and starts making swarm preparations.
I've never once fed light syrup in the spring to stimulate my bees - I let the weather do that and, by the time there is a decent amount of forage for them, they've had the willows for nectar and pollen and they're hot to trot.
More than once I heard a member of my old association bang on that he was just about to start giving his bees a spring stimulative feed as I was opening up the association apiary (not that far from his bees) to either put the first super on or wonder whether certain colonies need to go on double brood.
It's about time people started thinking, and working with their bees rather than blindly following a mantra that has not really been challenged for a century but thought up by a group which many in the past have been convinced has held the craft back in this country.

By the time I open them in spring, they are well into foraging nectar and pollen. I find they are pretty good at looking after themselves.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Thanks for the replys I'm not doing to badly and reading my bee's I hope.. He said three swarms last year.
One of the United colonys swarmed
One nuc
And a black bee colony swarmed.
3 out of 10 colonys at my peak last season.

Thanks again and apologies if I don't reply to each post.

 

[Poly Hive]

Frame feeders are better for this job than top feeders.

PH

 

[ericbeaumont]

Unless you have a specific objective (such as an early buildup for queen rearing or OSR) I think it's a pretty pointless exercise and can have an adverse effect on the colony, what's the point of getting your colony all revved up if, let's say you get a prolonged cold spring? all you end up with is a big colony struggling to find food, struggling for pollen for brood rearing and then, by the time the weather comes along it's knackered and can't take advantage of a flow or, it's fit to burst and starts making swarm preparations.
I've never once fed light syrup in the spring to stimulate my bees - I let the weather do that and, by the time there is a decent amount of forage for them, they've had the willows for nectar and pollen and they're hot to trot.
More than once I heard a member of my old association bang on that he was just about to start giving his bees a spring stimulative feed as I was opening up the association apiary (not that far from his bees) to either put the first super on or wonder whether certain colonies need to go on double brood.
It's about time people started thinking, and working with their bees rather than blindly following a mantra that has not really been challenged for a century but thought up by a group which many in the past have been convinced has held the craft back in this country.

Same here, word for word.

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

Hi, I wanted to start a thread on stimulative feeding I'm now going into my four year of having bee's and as yet I've never feed my bee's on Clee Hill with 1:1 syrup..

Reasons there's always been forage. Ie pollen and Nectar sources in early spring. so there hasn't been a need but has there??

When the spring forage has started most hives have remnants of fondant left so I've not feed syrup.

After reading on here that feeding syrup should be only used if you have osr near by.

Your thoughts pls

So,we give them a special dough in spring,we call it starterstuff , rocket fuel or prikkelytikkely,sorry,but this ones formula i'm not giving out,the hives starting through like a rocket once they get it.Februari,we gave it on our apideas with spare queens,they were 2 lvl high,end march we had to keep mounting up levels they were 7 levels up and placed in a two lvl high 6 framer nuc,another 3 weeks later were ready to put in a full size 2 lvl high,straight introduced to the renson system and started honeyharvest together with the big hives that came out of the winter.It defenitly gives results but you need to give them the right stuff,not just plain sugar or siropes and just as important the timing has to be right,we aim for good 10 days before the willowflufs blossem.

 

[Do224]

So,we give them a special dough in spring,we call it starterstuff , rocket fuel or prikkelytikkely,sorry,but this ones formula i'm not giving out,the hives starting through like a rocket once they get it.Februari,we gave it on our apideas with spare queens,they were 2 lvl high,end march we had to keep mounting up levels they were 7 levels up and placed in a two lvl high 6 framer nuc,another 3 weeks later were ready to put in a full size 2 lvl high,straight introduced to the renson system and started honeyharvest together with the big hives that came out of the winter.It defenitly gives results but you need to give them the right stuff,not just plain sugar or siropes and just as important the timing has to be right,we aim for good 10 days before the willowflufs blossem.

So you’re saying sugar syrup is no good and we should feed the ‘right stuff’, but you won’t tell us what it is, other than it’s known as prikkelytikkely…

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

So you’re saying sugar syrup is no good and we should feed the ‘right stuff’, but you won’t tell us what it is, other than it’s known as prikkelytikkely…

That's about right,i don't say it's no good as some extra feeding but it doesn't trigger your q to earlier enhance her egglaying,that request some "extras",and it's not know as,it's how we two kiddingly call it.Never harmed anyone to read,experiment and find out by themself without everything is trown in your lap.Sportfishermen have their little secrets,so do race pigeon keepers and more hobbyists and professionals,and so do we.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So you’re saying sugar syrup is no good and we should feed the ‘right stuff’, but you won’t tell us what it is, other than it’s known as prikkelytikkely…

Beekeeping in Belgium must be pretty quiet just now

 

[Anduril]

So you’re saying sugar syrup is no good and we should feed the ‘right stuff’, but you won’t tell us what it is, other than it’s known as prikkelytikkely…

If you read the first line it is more likely to be a pollen supplement or pollen alternative. Finman once gave a recipe using dates and yeast, etc.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Perhaps @Belgianbeekeeper would like to send the recipe via a pm?
Can I ask do you use protein in the good stuff?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Perhaps @Belgianbeekeeper would like to send the recipe via a pm?
Can I ask do you use protein in the good stuff?

Just buy a tub of Ultrabee and make your own. Why spoil Bbk's fun

 

[Curly green finger's]

Or which is what I’ve done use pollen traps and collect my own cheaper and I know what I’m using.