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Help, feeding bees
B DOG:
I have an entrance feeder for my bees and i instaled them toward the end of may, so it is really new. i have been filling up the enterance feeder often. Now the bees are no longer feeding form what i give them. At first i thought that maybe it went bad, so i changed the it. But still the bees do not feed. i was under the impression that they will feed for as long as i give them. is it normal for them to quit feeding what i give them so early after i started the hive. if not what should i do?i still want to encourage them to raise brood quickly. any help or suggestion to ease my nerves would be great.
thanks B dog
Bee Boy:
This is quite normal, after they find their own sources of food they stop taking what you are feeding them.
Finman:
--- Quote from: B DOG ---i still want to encourage them to raise brood quickly. any help or suggestion to ease my nerves would be great.
thanks B dog
--- End quote ---
Quite a strange to feed in the summer? I think that they get food enough outside.
2 winter ago I lost 2/3 of my colonies. I raised new ones, 12 new colonies. It is important, that at the start the colony is at least 10 frames. When you take from bigger colony a couple of frames, where bees are just hatching, they get nurse bees and queen can lay eggs with better capasity. If you do not have nurse bees enough they cannot raise any more new ones even if you give them food.
From 3 frames full of brood you get one box full of bees.
I have kept 15 W terrarium heater on the floor of nest in summer. In these colonies development was 3 x bigger than without heater. It means, that little colony has not bees to keep warm all corners.
But I also put inside the nest old frames, where it was crystallised honey. They comsumed it during one week. But still I think that warm and nurse bees are keywords.
Just now I have 4 new egg laying queen and do that trick to them: heater, hatching broods, one super full of bees and GO! And soon I have whole box full of larvas. And after 6 weeks I have 2 supers full of bees.
Lupus:
Finman makes some good points.
Like Finman I am in the process of growing my bees. I am about to order a few 5 frame Nucs to assist me in my efforts. I use only medium depth suppers and I was hoping that I could make divides with them.
I am finding it hard to get enough brood and worked comb frames to make a good tight nest with even in med suppers. Bees, especially new colonies, work better if they do not have to much to do. Too much space can give them more than they can handle.
You might want to keep a nuc or two around for new queens, splits etc. I am ordering 2-3 complete sets of Nucs with: two suppers, tops, bottoms, inner covers, Tele Covers, entrance reducers etc. I think you may find young colonies will work better in a smaller space.
Finman:
--- Quote from: Lupus ---Finman makes some good points.
Bees, especially new colonies, work better if they do not have to much to do.
Too much space can give them more than they can handle.
I think you may find young colonies will work better in a smaller space.
--- End quote ---
????
I do not uderstand what you mean. I want big colonies and I have. Thanks to good queens. I have 3 langstroth supers for broods + for honey 3-5 box Farrar or what it is, 14 cm high and Langstroth long. Total 6-8 boxes for one colony.
Good queen produces much brood. That is only way.
Space is needed for bees and honey. Vain space is harmfull, because bees must warm it. If nest is tight, bees love to swarm.
How they have much to do? -- Blooming put them to work. Otherwise bees want to spare they efforts. They do not work for joy.
How I get much honey? - I transport them to good pastures. In my home yard I get only 1/3 good honey yield, but I raise my bees in good condition on my yard for ready to catch good yield.
I put only 4-5 colony in one place. I want only to cream the nectar of flowers.
Last year April I had 4 pieces a coffee cup size colonies . I did them many tricks and I got them ready to harvest. Their medium yield was 90 kg/colony. They were in pasture where they had turnip rape field 10 hectares per colony! They took that yield in 3 weeks. Of course, if it is too dry or rainy, nothing happens.
In Finland we get yield practically only in July. In other months they eat what they get.
What do you mean " I may find young colonies will work better in a smaller space". - That is not true. Space must be proper and for reason.
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