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Erichalfbee

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Message from SBI this morning

This week Ending 30 th July.
I have this week been inspecting colonies in the North and Centre of Cumbria. Many of the colonies I found were very short on stores and on the point of starvation.
A few had stopped the queen laying and the odd one was eating their brood!
Since up to a couple of weeks ago the weather seemed ok for the bees the finding of starving bees was a bit of a surprise to me and the beekeepers

The problem will be in more locations than I have been inspecting so PLEASE CAN YOU PASS THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR BEEKEEPING MEMBERS. ASAP."



Mine are bringing in lots of pollen and I have been giving some feed when it's rained most of the day. Inspection due today so fingers crossed.
 
My experience in S Northumberland is the same as your SBI. Surprised me when I went in last week after a two week 'leave them alone' as I thought there would be plenty coming in; obvious signs of starvation; queen not laying, brood broken open, foundation eaten away. Started feeding straight away.
 
The problem is the hive.

Take honey supers off a National hive and often there isn't much food left in the hive because it is full of brood.
 
The problem is the hive.

Take honey supers off a National hive and often there isn't much food left in the hive because it is full of brood.

Not in my case. No supers on this season. Very weak colonies after a swarm and not enough forage/foragers.
 
My two colonies swarmed this year despite attempts to talk them out of it and are taking a while to build up again seemingly - I have only one super in use at the mo!
 
Hived a nuc box around 4 weeks ago, all going well, plenty of stores etc, no super as the colony needs building up. Weather been bad for the past 2 weeks, checked hive on Tues, no stores, fed on Tues evening with a litre of syrup by Wed evening taken it all and put on another litre. Hive seem much happier and are taking in plenty of pollen from 7am in the morning. I feel that I just caught it in time. This feed! is a very good warning to everyone. Thanks erichalfbee (what a name) Steven
 
Checked nucs today and if anything honey bound!

However on saying that there is for sure no flow nor has there been any for near two weeks now. Supers sitting unchanged from 10 days ago.

IF IN DOUBT PLEASE CHECK.

PH
 
I have 4 colonies. One a split in early May from my BKA which is doing well.
The frames are all higgledypiggledy with holes and bits of brace comb, badly spaced, stuck together etc etc so I put another brood box on top hoping they'd move up. Bees have drawn most of the foundation and filled it with stores.
As for the other three (bangs head!!!)....... they all came from an early June nuc . One of these is an AS with half a super of sugar, one the parent hive which seems queenless now but still foraging and a caste from the parent hive in which today's inspection has revealed a big fat queen in it:party:
I have been feeding all four more or less through the wet weather. The hives are close by and I can just give a small amount as the rain dictates
 
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Very similar in Berkshire. The flow stopped 2 weeks ago and hasn't re-started. Too dry I think .
 

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