Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: GSF on July 02, 2013, 10:38:13 pm
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I am using a broad man entrance at the bottom. It's the one with a jar that fits down into a piece of wood. My package is a little over 3 weeks old. I have been feeding them every day. 2:1 sugar water. I understand it promotes fast growth in a new colony. They are sucking it down too. When should I quit feeding this colony or should I the first year? Should I be feeding them any protein patties? They are foraging pretty well also.
Also I have a piece of wood about 3/8" in diameter sitting on top of the queen excluder under the inner cover for ventilation. Bees can come in and out through the space it provided for ventilation. Is that okay or should it be smaller to prevent bees from coming out. It is two medium 8 frame supers with a screen bottom board.
I notice when bees return from foraging some have pollen sacks full and some don't have anything. Could it be that the empty ones are bringing nectar into the hive? thanks, gary
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>I am using a broadman entrance at the bottom
In a dearth they will instill robbing. Some sort of covered feeder is better.
>I have been feeding them every day. 2:1 sugar water
1:1 for comb building 2:1 for feed storage
>When should I quit feeding this colony or should I the first year?
Feed only as needed you can over feed and honey bind the Queen. During a flow drop the feed.
>Should I be feeding them any protein patties?
In Alabama this time of year absolutely not. You will be feeding but it will be the SHB.
>sitting on top of the queen excluder
Ditch the honey excluder
>Bees can come in and out through the space it provided for ventilation
Nothing wrong with venting the top a little
>Could it be that the empty ones are bringing nectar into the hive?
Or water or in a dearth nothing
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i'm in central georgia and my bees are foraging for the first time in weeks. i'm just below the fall line at the start of the coastal plains. it's late but it's been a strange year. most of my experience was within 40 or 50 miles of auburn and usually by the 4th of july the main flows were over but they brought in a lot of pollen until late september. i've never fed pollen substitutes for what it's worth. i've also extracted tens of thousands of supers of honey that were located above queen excluders. one of the queens i grafted off of this year would lay in every available cell and cross honey bands to do it. i like comb honey so i run excluders. entrance feeders can definitely lead to robbing.
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i've also extracted tens of thousands of supers of honey that were located above queen excluders.
Queen excluders have their place for those that have the experience to run them. As in the production of comb honey. For the beginner trying to learn, watch out trees :bee:
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“Beginning beekeepers should not attempt to use queen excluders to prevent brood in supers. However they probably should have one excluder on hand to use as an aide in either finding the queen or restricting her access to frames that the beekeeper must want to move elsewhere” -The How-To-Do-It book of Beekeeping, Richard Taylor
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Thanks MB, Right now I have the queen excluder on top of my two brood chambers/supers. Pretty much a beginner's phobia I guess. I can just see me taking the top off and the queen flying away. I don't foresee and honey supers right now. This hive needs to stand on it's feet first.
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I am using a broad man entrance at the bottom. It's the one with a jar that fits down into a piece of wood. My package is a little over 3 weeks old.
Stop feeding and let them forage food from nature. Feeding does not make build up quicker. It fills combs and put the colony swarm.
Little aid is good but not one week feeding.
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Thanks Finski, I was concerned about that very same point. I'm thinking with all that sugar water they may get to thinking the nectar flow is on. Last time I was in there (3 days ago) I took pictures of the frames. Since then I have been looking over them. If there is a queen cell it's only one. Some of the frames were almost waxed together and removing them tore loose some of that wax. That's what I'm thinking I saw.
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I guess they said it better than I did :? :-D
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I guess they said it better than I did :? :-D
you answered it exactly like I would of SC-Bee...there you feel better now? ;)
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I guess they said it better than I did :? :-D
you answered it exactly like I would of SC-Bee...there you feel better now? ;)
Thank you b2b now my last feeling ain't hurt ;)