Where are all of the stores?

[Beagle23]

About a month ago I was well on the way to having two full supers, most of the stores weren't capped but the majority of cells in all frames held good amounts of liquid.

Last Sunday my bees swarmed, were captured and are now living it up on an allotment patch in God's own county of Essex.

So I went back into my hive this morning to make sure all was well. Found the new queen and she's laying, still a decent number of bees left, but the amount of stores have plummeted, there's less than half a frames worth of capped stores in a brood box and two supers and everywhere is fairly light.
I've seen no evidence of robbing.

Is it time to start feeding them do you think?

 

[Zante]

I'd wager the swarm took quite a chunk of those stores with them.

As for feeding, it depends on forage. If they have plenty to collect lthey'll be fine, but keep an eye on them to make sure they don't run out.

Also, I'd remove any super that's empty. One they need it again they can have it back but for now it's empty space to keep heated, and that uses up what could be stored.

 

[Swarm]

Sorry to say it but your honey just flew away.

 

[Magwat]

Don't forget too that nectar being processed is spread out and the final, capped honey takes up less space as the water has been evaporated.

 

[Beagle23]

Curse their little hairy bodies, they've foiled me again!

 

[Beagle23]

I think I'll probably add some fondant tomorrow, I'm not seeing much pollen coming back into the hive, and I doubt it does any harm (I fully expect someone to point out that I'm wrong)

 

[pargyle]

I think I'll probably add some fondant tomorrow, I'm not seeing much pollen coming back into the hive, and I doubt it does any harm (I fully expect someone to point out that I'm wrong)

Shouldn't need feeding at this stage ... and if they do .. not fondant - 1:1 Syrup. But make sure that they really DO need it ... and don't have a super on or you will end up with syrup in the honey stores.

 

[mjt68]

I think I'll probably add some fondant tomorrow, I'm not seeing much pollen coming back into the hive, and I doubt it does any harm (I fully expect someone to point out that I'm wrong)

Feeding with a super on means you get a nice syrup crop. Feeding without a super if they don't need it means brood nest fills with stored feed and they'll swarm again. When in doubt, do nothing.

 

[Eyeman]

Feeding with a super on means you get a nice syrup crop. Feeding without a super if they don't need it means brood nest fills with stored feed and they'll swarm again. When in doubt, do nothing.

I've seen large colonies starve to death during periods of bad weather at this time of year. You always need to make sure there is going to be enough stores in the hive until your next inspection.

 

[mjt68]

I've seen large colonies starve to death during periods of bad weather at this time of year. You always need to make sure there is going to be enough stores in the hive until your next inspection.

Oh absolutely, my comment was in response to 'it can't do any harm'. Judicious feeding can save a colony but it can create all sorts of unnecessary problems if not warranted.