What did you do in the Apiary today?

[madasafish]

Interesting. I have just painted the outside of 6 maisie polynucs (from the Jan sale) with brown masony paint.

I know the topic has been discussed in the past (and I have read through the various contributions) but with a few more years of experience & hindsight can people kindly tell me what they found to be the best option to paint the inside of the Poly feeder. Is it gloss paint or masonry paint or possibly something else? I would like a consensus view if possible . Many thanks in anticipation of some advice.

Coarse - non smooth - masonry paint .Bees grip on the imperfections.

 

[MJB]

A day of painting hives and stands, and preparing the ground for my start- been a great weekend out in the fresh air

 

[Little John]

Must be the painting season ...
Just finished painting my slatted rack floors - now onto the 8-frame boxes themselves. But that's tomorrow's job. Watching Sean Bean's 'Waterloo Documentary' this evening.
LJ

 

[B+.]

Watching Sean Bean's 'Waterloo Documentary' this evening.
LJ

What channel is it on LJ?

Never mind... I found it on YouTube

 

[Little John]

What channel is it on LJ?

Never mind... I found it on YouTube

Sorry - didn't intend to mislead - it's quite an old documentary - but fortunately I found some Filefactory links which still work. Didn't realise it was on Youtube as well. Excellent program - really shows how bloody those battles were.
LJ

 

[Hivemaker.]

11c and they are working the pollen patties like its going out of fashion.

Put 1lb pollen patty on each of my 3 hives - they've slowed down their fondant eating - curious as to how/if any of these hives come out of winter.

Could do more harm than good, so best not to let them run out of pollen pattie until they can easily collect their own pollen.

 

[BMH]

hmmm. seems I jumped the gun by a couple if weeks. still, they go to the rape in 4 weeks so need the boost. Just wish it was a bit warmer!

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[Brian Bush]

Checked all the hives and topped up fondant where necessary. Some hives were flying and I have only suffered on more loss. I have a bit of a mouse problem in 2 WBC hives. Mice are climbing up between the hive and the outer supers to raid the Fondant. I saw 4 mice yesterday, 3 on one crown board. That number can be reduced to 1 survivor. I got 2 and one shot through the crown board hole into a large aggressive colony. I should think he was very chastened if he eventually got out!!!

 

[Poly Hive]

Mobus had a lovely slide of a large cat sitting on top of the blankets over a Glen brood box. Title was Mouse trap. LOL

PH

 

[bjosephd]

Could do more harm than good, so best not to let them run out of pollen pattie until they can easily collect their own pollen.

Ahh where were you HM when we were discussing this the other day! Haha

Seemed many were pushing pollen already. So I'm guessing that it means they start brooding and then can't maintain that increase.

So now I must make sure they don't run out so they can maintain the brood I may have foolishly kickstarted?

Fortunately I have plenty of patties for my very few hives.

Thanks for the heads up.


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[Eyeman]

Seemed many were pushing pollen already. So I'm guessing that it means they start brooding and then can't maintain that increase

Pollen is a crucial resource for brood rearing. If there isn't enough of it then brood rearing stops and those young bees are undernourished.
Pollen deficits any any time of the year puts the colony under stress. I think we assume the bees can get plenty of local pollen, but that may not always be the case.

 

[bjosephd]

Pollen is a crucial resource for brood rearing. If there isn't enough of it then brood rearing stops and those young bees are undernourished.

Pollen deficits any any time of the year puts the colony under stress. I think we assume the bees can get plenty of local pollen, but that may not always be the case.

Indeed...

Well I've started now... so I guess just best I keep them stocked up from now on!... still learning!


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[Hivemaker.]

Pollen is a crucial resource for brood rearing. If there isn't enough of it then brood rearing stops and those young bees are undernourished.

Sounds logical, or maybe they just like selling patties.

Once the bees are induced to raise unnatural amounts of brood by feeding, they must be supplied with the diet continuously and never allowed to run out until natural pollen comes in reliably. If they run out - even for a day - the brood they have started may be thrown out or develop poorly. Brood rearing takes a lot out of the old wintered bees and if the first spring brood cycle does not successfully raise new nurse bees, their fat bodies may be used up and they may not be able to raise much more brood later, even with fresh pollen coming in.

If only one very attractive patty is being fed, and fed too many days before natural pollen comes in, there is a real risk of over-stimulating too much brood rearing too early.

If additional patties are not put on the hives before the previous patties are completely consumed, and if natural or stored pollen does not become available, as previously mentioned, the bees may actually tear out some of the brood that has been initiated as a result of the feeding!

Feeding too early, with too attractive and short-lived a patty, and failing to keep the bees supplied, can result in hive decline or collapse. The collapse is not immediate; it comes several weeks later and can mystify the beekeeper. The explanation given for this effect is that supplements are not a perfect replacement for pollen; when raising too much brood with artificial diets with no new pollen, nurse bees deplete their body reserves dangerously.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390236/
http://www.globalpatties.com/pages/articles/nutrition.htm
http://www.globalpatties.com/pages/articles/nutrition2.htm

 

[Finman]

.
Yesh... Those poor patty bees.

If I do not give patty, the hive rears zero bees.

Willow starts blooming here first of May. Then bees are able to start brood rearing. I start patty feeding 3 weeks earlier.

When May continues, most of the time bees are not able to forage enough from willows. Then they eate some larva to feed at least part of brood to be capped. Bees do not tear out capped brood.

When I feed pollen-yeast-soya patties, brood area is very even and I have not seen any problems in poor quality of bees.

Most important in patty fed bees is that they feed the next generation. And they have done.


I have fed bees with pollen and patty 25 years, and it took some years to learn, how to do it.

I have seen enough those "short living songs". Same guy who barks patties, he is ready to sell mere sugar with 10-fold sugar price.

But if you do patty feeding wrong way, whose fault is that. I have noticed, that if I give patty to 4 frame nuc in spring, or to smaller, the colony gets chalkbrood and I must throw away brood frames. So I do noh feed. I give emerging brood frames to small hives and they get better start.


I start it now again, when I got irradiated pollen from Italy.
.

 

[bjosephd]

Well great. Can't really undo it now. All the anti-pollen-sub people were rather quiet the other day.

Although I've seen videos of Mike Palmer whacking on a fat load of pollen sub. So I'm not devastatingly worried - I'll just ensure I now keep it up I guess.


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[Poly Hive]

Ah the scare mongering.

When I fed pollen patties as in patties with actual pollen in them and given I was working 15 on and 13 home at the time there were periods when with the best of intentions the bees finished the pattie before I was able to resupply.

I doubt they were short for more than a week at worst and were there heaps of larvae thrown out?

Not that I ever saw.

PH

 

[madasafish]

Well I was one of the pattie feeders. I know end January is early but I wanted to ensure I have enough bees for the Spring flows. And of course having planned for the increase, I have bought enough feed to feed all my hives until end March...

Being an exiled Scot, I would hate to lose any of my valuable bees to starvation as I am mean...

 

[bjosephd]

Being an exiled Scot, I would hate to lose any of my valuable bees to starvation as I am mean...

And being an Englishman I have an Empire to build!



Or is it RE-build :/ ?


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[Finman]

And being an Englishman I have an Empire to build!

Remember, no importing then... Only export.

 

[madasafish]

And being an Englishman I have an Empire to build!



Or is it RE-build :/ ?


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Reconquering the USA on the cards then?