this could be a problem of my own making

[Nige.Coll]

hefted hives and they were really light so i had a quick look under the roof
this is what i saw..
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=9875&stc=1&d=1395848950
the bottom of the cluster is visible through the entrance .
i wanted to get them ready for the OSR so i followed some guidelines i found regarding feeding and encouraging build up.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=9874&stc=1&d=1395848950
OSR isn't ready there are only a few flowers scattered around.
i do hope this doesn't bite me in the bum...

i want to double brood this hive but didn't want to do it until i moved them to the OSR fields.
the weather here is all over the place and doesn't look like getting any better for a week or so.
looks like i will have to move them and just see what happens.

would putting another brood box under the occupied one drain much heat away ?
queen is unmarked in this hive and i'm not sure if she is 2013 or not i'de hate them to try and swarm this early.

my other hive i have had to feed syrup again as i nearly threw it off the stand hefting it was so light. that colony is smaller even though they have been treated the same.


forgot to say. when i did a quick inspection of the larger colony a couple of weeks ago it had 8 frames of bees and around 4 of brood spread over 6 frames and 3 frames of stores. feels like stores have been eaten now.

 

[Tom Bick]

Looks like they need more room Nigel the brood box under won't drain any heat as heat rises.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Looks like they need more room Nigel

thats what i was thinking . did too good a job of building up lol.
would a brood box under the original be ok i'm concerned about the temp atm it's cold at night.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Brood box under would be fine IMHO

 

[user 6228]

Looks like they need more room Nigel the brood box under won't drain any heat as heat rises.

yep!

 

[Nige.Coll]

i'll sort it in the next day or so thank you .
that colony was large when i got it amazed me how they all fitted in a national.
looks like they plan on being same again this year.

 

[beeno]

i'll sort it in the next day or so thank you .
that colony was large when i got it amazed me how they all fitted in a national.
looks like they plan on being same again this year.

Nice weekend coming up for you! Hope they have not got Finman's swarm fever. Good job you have overfed them on purpose as that seem to elicit only polite replies.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Nice weekend coming up for you! Hope they have not got Finman's swarm fever. Good job you have overfed them on purpose as that seem to elicit only polite replies.

Nice weekend coming up for you! Hope they have not got Finman's swarm fever. Good job you have overfed them on purpose as that seem to elicit only polite replies.

i knew i had OSR coming. farmer said i'm in the middle of 420 acres with no competition.
i looked up stuff and followed it. this is my first year .
i haven't followed the crowd or played to an audience.
i have posted what i have done after making my own choices.
maybe not being an idiot has got me polite posts but you would have to do a poll on that.
OSR is a little late in my area the weather has been bad. pre 2012 this method worked for max pollination per hive.


the overfed them on purpose as that seem to elicit only polite replies thing is rude.

six months ago this was a rough place to be.
anything slightly dumb and omg it was a feeding frenzy.
i didn't ask here and followed a book.
book was a few weeks off damn americans. i got to feed simple as really
my bees will live.

 

[beeno]

Nige, it was not personal it was merely an observation on how the forum works in its feeding frenzies. Your colonies were light and filled to the brim with bees showing only a small Chinese takeaway tray as feeder - not enough bees would have been able to get in there to feed in the long run. It could have led to starvation or starvation swarming. Many more newbies going your route perhaps the xperts can give a recap.

 

[Nige.Coll]

the small container had neopoll in it. it's only been on since 9th march.
before that they have eaten 5 kg of fondant over winter.
they had 3 full frames of stores on the 9th.
working on about 1 frame per week usage it was time to recheck . haven't looked inside since as it's been cold.
didn't want to run out of space in the already tight brood box by over feeding.

you can see the edge of some kling film in the picture that has another lump of neopoll in it.

as the thread title i got my timing wrong.
when i move them in a day or so they will be double brood and i will put more feed in as needed space won't be a problem then.
the container is a top up really i have one in my bee box full of fondant just incase i need it.
i wouldn't recommend using those containers for a main feed too small but handy for top ups .


sorry if i took your comments the wrong way i was a little drunk .

 

[pargyle]

the small container had neopoll in it. it's only been on since 9th march.
before that they have eaten 5 kg of fondant over winter.
they had 3 full frames of stores on the 9th.
working on about 1 frame per week usage it was time to recheck . haven't looked inside since as it's been cold.
didn't want to run out of space in the already tight brood box by over feeding.

when i move them in a day or so they will be double brood and i will put more feed in as needed space won't be a problem then.
the container is a top up really i have one in my bee box full of fondant just incase i need it.

Nige ... not sure what other people think but I think you might be overdoing the feeding a bit ?

I fed mine a bit of syrup (about a gallon) in autumn, they were pretty full up of stores by the time they went into winter and they haven't been fed since. There's still a good weight in the hive now and over the last week or two they have been bringing nectar in so I'm not feeding ..

If you are putting the second brood box in for them to fill out frames of foundation they might appreciate a couple of litres of 1:1 to give them a start comb building but I'd forget the fondant now ..

 

[Nige.Coll]

the fondant i carry is incase of emergencies apiary is nowhere near a shop and 4 miles from home ish.

small container of neopoll was on mainly to try and kick start brood rearing.
it worked lol
hive has lost weight in the last 3 weeks and weather here has been cold and raining most days.

is the 1 frame per week for food usage about right for a strong colony this time of year ?
standard national frame

newbie worrying about them starving i guess

my smaller colony had no stores at all earlier in the month . i've fed them a few pints of syrup every week the weather has been bad.
hopefully it will be nice enough this weekend to open them up and have a proper look instead of trying to guess.

how much syrup does it take to fill 1 brood frame ?
i can never remember.