- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Messages
- 327
- Reaction score
- 295
- Location
- Loughborough
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 11
Wow… If you have the patience to read all of the below, I would welcome any related comments/advice/experience:
Last year (in May), and, in part as a result of some somewhat neglectful beekeeping (well, I had at least failed to spot 2 swarm cells), my ‘White Queen’ swarmed; she being my favourite ever; a 2016 specimen and a prolific layer… and this at a time at which I had a shortage of kit.
I caught the swarm, and, kit-wise, had only one spare floor, one roof, and a few supers/drawn frames, so I made a makeshift hive, housing the Queen and her fleeing entourage in a shallow (super) with some drawn frames, a couple of which had some food.
‘Note-to-self’ 1: Always make sure you have more than enough kit at the beginning of the season to meet your likely needs
Given that: a) I live in a rural area where there are usually abundant nectar sources, b) there is therefore usually no hugely perceptible ‘June Gap’ and c) I am (was) dead-against feeding bees (even caught swarms) with syrup during the season itself … I elected to leave them to their own devices…. So:
… so basically 2 frames, sparsely populated with bees, brood and some limited stores.
‘Note-to-self’ 2: Never be afraid to feed in-season, if the circumstances warrant it - especially if you need to promote drawing of foundation. Had I done so in May, the outcome would most likely have been radically different.
At this point, my head was telling me just to call it a (very) bad job, and throw the bees out onto the grass, but my heart would not allow me to. I therefore brought the bees home, and transferred 6 of the frames into a poly-nuc, above and below which I put some Celotex, introducing about 500g of Candipolline over the top-bars.
Since then, I continued to see a very small amount of activity from this box over the rest of Oct/Nov/Dec, including the odd bee on a cleansing flight in the milder weather and the expulsion of dead bees.
So (given the probability of at least some live bees) in order to properly assess the situation, and to form a related plan of action, on a mild day in the New Year, I lifted the lid.
To my surprise, the size and location of the cluster seemed to indicate colony growth (both comb and bees) during the interceding months. The October fondant was all gone, and I therefore felt inclined to give them another 500g.
Well, today is 9 degrees here, with tomorrow forecast to be 13, so I have again taken another quick peek under the lid….
Madness. The cluster is now c.a. twice the size of a couple of weeks ago, and spans 4 of the 6 frames, with almost all the fondant gone. Blow-it - - -> on has gone the feeder, filled to the gunnels with inverted syrup.
I do not want to tempt fate, but it would not surprise me to reach late Feb/early March with these girls bursting from the nuc, and in need of a larger home.
I am completely blown away by how no more than a couple of hundred bees, with only limited stores, look not only likely to overwinter, but possibly with extremely significant colony growth (albeit with a helping hand).
‘Note-to-self’ 3: Nature is amazing. I must never think my bees are a lost cause, until the fat lady has sung.
‘Note-to-self’ 4: Consider expanding my use of polystyrene (eurghhhh!) - beyond my nuc boxes, and into my ‘production’ hives; there would appear to be at least some chance that the thermal benefits are one of the things which has kept these girls alive.
Every day a school-day, as they say.
Last year (in May), and, in part as a result of some somewhat neglectful beekeeping (well, I had at least failed to spot 2 swarm cells), my ‘White Queen’ swarmed; she being my favourite ever; a 2016 specimen and a prolific layer… and this at a time at which I had a shortage of kit.
I caught the swarm, and, kit-wise, had only one spare floor, one roof, and a few supers/drawn frames, so I made a makeshift hive, housing the Queen and her fleeing entourage in a shallow (super) with some drawn frames, a couple of which had some food.
‘Note-to-self’ 1: Always make sure you have more than enough kit at the beginning of the season to meet your likely needs
Given that: a) I live in a rural area where there are usually abundant nectar sources, b) there is therefore usually no hugely perceptible ‘June Gap’ and c) I am (was) dead-against feeding bees (even caught swarms) with syrup during the season itself … I elected to leave them to their own devices…. So:
- June: Queen laying (but only really on one shallow frame out of the 11), so only very, very little brood, and no colony expansion whatsoever
- July: Ditto; mid-month, when there were nectar flows, I re-homed them into a new national standard box, taking two of the shallow frames (actually, the only two with bees, brood and stores of any sort), along with 9 frames with undrawn (KBS) foundation. I moved this hive to my out-apiary, in the vicinity of significant wildflower sources … upon which I expected the captured swarm to (finally !!) spring into action, draw out some comb, and at last give the Queen some space to lay in earnest, but instead …….. as I say, she continued laying only very small numbers of brood, and there was no colony expansion at all - but also no indication they desired supersedure
- August: Ditto
- September: Ditto
- October: Was ‘ditto’ … until, alongside my other two colonies, I gave an (admittedly late) autumn feed of 2:1 syrup; of which they quickly guzzled about a gallon and then stopped. This ‘spurt’ encouraged them to build at least some new comb - leaving the bees still probably only the equivalent, in total, of 2 to 2.5 national frames of viable comb (one of which was still an original drawn shallow), for brood and stores … of which they now had at least some
… so basically 2 frames, sparsely populated with bees, brood and some limited stores.
‘Note-to-self’ 2: Never be afraid to feed in-season, if the circumstances warrant it - especially if you need to promote drawing of foundation. Had I done so in May, the outcome would most likely have been radically different.
At this point, my head was telling me just to call it a (very) bad job, and throw the bees out onto the grass, but my heart would not allow me to. I therefore brought the bees home, and transferred 6 of the frames into a poly-nuc, above and below which I put some Celotex, introducing about 500g of Candipolline over the top-bars.
Since then, I continued to see a very small amount of activity from this box over the rest of Oct/Nov/Dec, including the odd bee on a cleansing flight in the milder weather and the expulsion of dead bees.
So (given the probability of at least some live bees) in order to properly assess the situation, and to form a related plan of action, on a mild day in the New Year, I lifted the lid.
To my surprise, the size and location of the cluster seemed to indicate colony growth (both comb and bees) during the interceding months. The October fondant was all gone, and I therefore felt inclined to give them another 500g.
Well, today is 9 degrees here, with tomorrow forecast to be 13, so I have again taken another quick peek under the lid….
Madness. The cluster is now c.a. twice the size of a couple of weeks ago, and spans 4 of the 6 frames, with almost all the fondant gone. Blow-it - - -> on has gone the feeder, filled to the gunnels with inverted syrup.
I do not want to tempt fate, but it would not surprise me to reach late Feb/early March with these girls bursting from the nuc, and in need of a larger home.
I am completely blown away by how no more than a couple of hundred bees, with only limited stores, look not only likely to overwinter, but possibly with extremely significant colony growth (albeit with a helping hand).
‘Note-to-self’ 3: Nature is amazing. I must never think my bees are a lost cause, until the fat lady has sung.
‘Note-to-self’ 4: Consider expanding my use of polystyrene (eurghhhh!) - beyond my nuc boxes, and into my ‘production’ hives; there would appear to be at least some chance that the thermal benefits are one of the things which has kept these girls alive.
Every day a school-day, as they say.
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