Strangely short of stores

[BBC]

Dear Oracle,
At the end of August (post harvest) both my hives were well stocked and took in several litres of syrup. Following VM treatments and preparations for winter I reduced full inspections carried out minor visual monitoring.
I’ve seen plenty of activity from both hives until this recent bout of winter weather.
Carried out my first heft only to notice they’re worryingly light.
As an immediate reaction I have put the feeders on with excess syrup.
Should I consider fondant instead?

 

[user 819]

Likely to cold fo syrup better off with fondant.

End of August is too early to expect any stores to take them thru winter , with autumn brood rearing for the winter cluster most will monitor and feed right thru to end of October or into early November if needed
For a lot of beeks the ivy intake has been exceptional this year due to the mild late autumn.

 

[BBC]

Thanks, fondant installed and will monitor next week.

 

[Wilco]

I've found a few have roared through their stores as it's been really mild. Cold weather due to fondant best unless you can keep the syrup warm.

 

[Wingy]

How heavy were your hives a few weeks ago and how big are your colonies?
Could be large colonies blasting through their stores or if not that large a colony consider have they been robbed?

 

[BBC]

They’d taken down loads of syrup until it stopped disappearing.
One is a new colony from a swarm the other is a third year well established colony and both are strong.
I’ve stuck on some fondant, we’ll see.

 

[madasafish]

I weighed all my hives three weeks ago and fed fondant to the lighter ones.

Will check today pm before cold weather hits Wed.

 

[user 819]

Generally though end of August is too soon to expect any stores to last thru to March/April, feeding like most beek practices is a learning curve and one has to adjust them to the conditions and what one sees right thru to November.
Some get technical and weigh and monitor feed rates using spread sheets or notes and some simply use the heft method having made sure late on they were well provisioned.

Over time when one gains more experience, thenfeed knowledge and practices can be adjusted to suit the conditions and bees each year will differ a little.

The main thing though is like you have done is to realise they are light and act on the situation to prevent die out.

 

[Nighthaunt]

Poly NUCs seem to not be touching their fondant - main hives despite 20-25kg of Heavy Syrup in August and September all 3 14 x 12 hives have consumed 1-2kg of fondant already with bees clustered at top.

Think with the very mild weather down south, colony size has been kept large without the nectar income to sustain it go they have been burning through their stores, this week has been the first time it’s felt cold and not just lows of 10-12c overnight.

I’m checking Fondant in the hives weekly now - it may be what keeps the bees alive overwinter. For reference hive weight was 36kg or so and had plenty of capped stores when put to bed at start of October - so not a case of not enough stores.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

6 hives in the garden. 5 lost 2-4lbs during November. One munched through 20lbs of stores. Biggest colony. It's the dramatic difference that is alarming.
Being pessimistic I'm thinking maybe they've lost the queen and haven't settled in.
Going to have a quick look when I do OA dribble in a couple of weeks and probably give them fondant.

Another colony which is light has an English feeder with insulation on top and they're not touching it. Will give them fondant too.

. . . . Ben

#edit 01/01/2023 - Doh! Misread the scale. The colony probably only dropped 4-5lbs.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Prompted by this thread I hefted mine. All still pretty heavy. Ivy stores dropping on inspection tray.

 

[Antipodes]

6 hives in the garden. 5 lost 2-4lbs during November. One munched through 20lbs of stores. Biggest colony. It's the dramatic difference that is alarming.
Being pessimistic I'm thinking maybe they've lost the queen and haven't settled in.
Going to have a quick look when I do OA dribble in a couple of weeks and probably give them fondant.

Another colony which is light has an English feeder with insulation on top and they're not touching it. Will give them fondant too.

. . . . Ben

I normally find the colonies without a laying queen (and brood to be fed) are the ones not using so much food....even if they have a good number of bees. I'd guess the big one has been using stores to feed brood despite the time of year.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I normally find the colonies without a laying queen (and brood to be fed) are the ones not using so much food....even if they have a good number of bees. I'd guess the big one has been using stores to feed brood despite the time of year.

You have a point there. I had a failing (rather than missing) queen the other year which was laying some drone brood through the winter. Drones flying in January. ! They worked through a lot of stores.
My bees are mongrels and usually pretty frugal over winter. They shrink back to a small nest. This old queen (oldest I have) has kept laying maybe. We. Shall. See.
. . .. Ben