What to do... Are my supers full of sugar syrup?

[Beeing]

Hello

This is my first season keeping bees. I have two hives (national and a poly). I received both as nucs and have been feeding them, in accordance to advice I was given, continuously with syrup (1:1) ever since I got them (end June and July) to help both hives draw comb including in the supers.

I am now planning of putting Api guards on them but am not sure what to do with the stores in the supers (as I understand the supers should not stay on during the treatment).

Now, do I take the supers out while I do the Api guard treatment and consequently put the supers back on as stores for the winter? Or is that going to make the hives colder with larger space for them to warm up? In case I should not put the supers back on then what do I do with the stores (which I gather are mainly sugar syrup and wouldn’t be harvested in any case)?

Maybe I should have stopped feeding when I added the supers on?

The status of the hives are as follows:

National:
2 x brood box (all frames except 1-2 drawn, full of stores, brood)
2 x Super (Super 1: 8 frames capped, Super 2: 6 frames not capped)

Poly:
2 x brood box (3 empty frames in each. Otherwise drawn, full of stores/brood)
1 x super (8 drawn with stores, some capped)

Hope this makes sense.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Whomsoever gave you that kind of advice is a fool. If there is forage around they didn't need any syrup to make wax, if there wasn't you should have stopped once they had finished wax drawing in the brood box.Never feed once the supers are on so yes, you should have stopped syrup feeding a lot earlier. You now have a load of sugar syrup packed everywhere, good news is - you don't need any winter feeding
What's in the supers is only good for the bees - nothing else so there's no matter if they are left on during apiguard treatment.
Try and sort the supers so that each hive has a super full of capped stores - Put the other super under the brood box on the strongest colony, leave them on until the spring but make sure you take the queen excluders away.

Do a beekeeping course over the winter
Get a new mentor.

 

[theeggman]

Whomsoever gave you that kind of advice is a fool. If there is forage around they didn't need any syrup to make wax, if there wasn't you should have stopped once they had finished wax drawing in the brood box.Never feed once the supers are on so yes, you should have stopped syrup feeding a lot earlier. You now have a load of sugar syrup packed everywhere, good news is - you don't need any winter feeding
What's in the supers is only good for the bees - nothing else so there's no matter if they are left on during apiguard treatment.
Try and sort the supers so that each hive has a super full of capped stores - Put the other super under the brood box on the strongest colony, leave them on until the spring but make sure you take the queen excluders away.

Do a beekeeping course over the winter
Get a new mentor.

To the forum and . But do keep asking questions, even when the going gets rough on here, because there will be others out there in your position. Again.

P.S. If you could refine your location a bit there may be a member on here that's near enough to think I can help. South East is a very large area. I'm in Okehampton, Devon in the South West. but Swindon is deemed to be in the South West by the powers that be, so the nearest town, village would be an advantage.

 

[For want of a better word]

Whomsoever gave you that kind of advice is a fool. If there is forage around they didn't need any syrup to make wax, if there wasn't you should have stopped once they had finished wax drawing in the brood box.Never feed once the supers are on so yes, you should have stopped syrup feeding a lot earlier. You now have a load of sugar syrup packed everywhere, good news is - you don't need any winter feeding
What's in the supers is only good for the bees - nothing else so there's no matter if they are left on during apiguard treatment.
Try and sort the supers so that each hive has a super full of capped stores - Put the other super under the brood box on the strongest colony, leave them on until the spring but make sure you take the queen excluders away.

Do a beekeeping course over the winter
Get a new mentor.

Good advice... alternative would be to put the supers of stores above the crown board so that they bring it down to the brood... or even put it under the brood with a false entrance too big for them to defend... and they will bring it up!!@

Do as JBM says... tis a steep learning curve!

Yeghes da

 

[beeno]

Hi and welcome, I can see where your mentor was coming from i.e. too late in the season for honey, so go for comb building to get your colony off to a good start next season. Agree to stop feeding for now and make sure HM has some space to lay otherwise you may end up with late swarming particularly if you have balsam and later ivy coming in. Good luck with your winter preparations. Enjoy.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi and welcome, I can see where your mentor was coming from i.e. too late in the season for honey, so go for comb building to get your colony off to a good start next season.

Since when has June been considered 'too late in the season' for anything. Or is it a case of dafties think alike

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[beeno]

Since when has June been considered 'too late in the season' for anything. Or is it a case of dafties think alike

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

Anyone that does not think the same as you is a dafty? I think you have far too high opinion of yourself. This is not the Jenkins forum or a Welsh forum for that matter, but you certainly have a gift for making most of your contributions unpleasant. Everyone that does not agree with you gets a shovel of **** thrown at them which makes you a first class bully. Man, take a break and think about it. It is not pretty.

 

[REDWOOD]

If a colony needs feeding there should be no supers on, if there is remove them simples.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think you have far too high opinion of yourself. .

Not at all - just a particularly low one of you.
when someone makes such a stupid statement such as June being at the end of the season and agrees with piling sugar syrup onto a colony for no good reason, seems to go out of her way to feed newbies duff information.......................
But then again, I'd best shut up - I haven't got a badge sewn on my beesuit - that's all that seems to matter

 

[Arfermo]

Anyone that does not think the same as you is a dafty? I think you have far too high opinion of yourself. This is not the Jenkins forum or a Welsh forum for that matter, but you certainly have a gift for making most of your contributions unpleasant. Everyone that does not agree with you gets a shovel of **** thrown at them which makes you a first class bully. Man, take a break and think about it. It is not pretty.

Typical welsh twat really with few good manners. Am getting rid of my bees cos' too old and too much noise here over the years by a person who seems to live on this website.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

doing the bees (and us) a favour then.........................

 

[Beeing]

Whomsoever gave you that kind of advice is a fool. If there is forage around they didn't need any syrup to make wax, if there wasn't you should have stopped once they had finished wax drawing in the brood box.Never feed once the supers are on so yes, you should have stopped syrup feeding a lot earlier. You now have a load of sugar syrup packed everywhere, good news is - you don't need any winter feeding
What's in the supers is only good for the bees - nothing else so there's no matter if they are left on during apiguard treatment.
Try and sort the supers so that each hive has a super full of capped stores - Put the other super under the brood box on the strongest colony, leave them on until the spring but make sure you take the queen excluders away.

Do a beekeeping course over the winter
Get a new mentor.

Many thanks for all the advice and welcomes! very much appreciated!

 

[Etton]

Not at all - just a particularly low one of you.
when someone makes such a stupid statement such as June being at the end of the season and agrees with piling sugar syrup onto a colony for no good reason, seems to go out of her way to feed newbies duff information.......................
But then again, I'd best shut up - I haven't got a badge sewn on my beesuit - that's all that seems to matter

Don't leave the web site, I really value your comments and help... even if a bit grumpy!