Mid March- Starvation
A perfect Spring day- ending in a warm wind, and massive amounts of rain expected. All the hives have been pouring forth bees, as if it were Summer- I can't recall if they are like this every year. Lots of plants have flowered, now, though it's still early. There is now dandelion in my yard- which my friend Brian says is a sign that you can safely stop feeding them.
The winter feeding thing I thought I had licked, but it turns out, not true. In a panic, in December, I found I need to feed them quick- that most had run through their stores. Which of course, I wondered if I had screwed up and been too greedy taking off honey- or if there was something else going on. I don't know, I was careful I think- and left 50# or more a hive. Still- I suddenly had to feed them white sugar. I put it on dry, then on foil mixed to a paste, and have put about 12# a hive on in three months. And they eat it- or something- I can't tell. I don't see it stored when I look, but can hear them munching on it at night.
Which all seemed good- like I could take the hives starving off my anxiety list. So I have been checking once a week to make sure each has sugar, but i haven't opened them to see if they are storing anything. And the sugar is right next to the cluster- in fact, they are on it, so I wasn't worried about them being too far away.
But then yesterday I noticed that one hive had nothing flying. The other hives were boiling. I opened the hive and sure enough, they were nearly all dead- a strong hive. And there was lots of sugar left on top, with a few bees picking through it. There was lots of brood too- uncared for. I took one frame of capped brood and put it another hive (which seems to have worked- they aren't cleaning them out, so I guess they are still alive, which surprised me).
So I was mortified- another expensive, painful lesson. The other hives seemed fine- but i went through them alll, and found zero to minimal stores in 8, and lots of stores in 2 or 3. No rhume or reason I could tell. Like different metabolisms in each hive. So i mixed syrup and got it to each hive as quick as I could, and while there, flipped the brood boxes. I think we're early- there is lots of brood, and it felt like the queens were moving up. I say this as in a number of hives where I had left a 2 inch spacer for the sugar on top, they had built loose brood comb, and there was lots of brood in these- way on top. So I put here back down, with the goal of having 3 brood boxes.
Food will still be a problem. I am thinking about internal frame feeders. I need to feed them alot- and itd be about the same cost as a four hole feeder plus jars- and less hassle.
In any case, a disappointment. Plus- its early- and I am seeing a lot (I think) of mites- more than I would expect.
The winter feeding thing I thought I had licked, but it turns out, not true. In a panic, in December, I found I need to feed them quick- that most had run through their stores. Which of course, I wondered if I had screwed up and been too greedy taking off honey- or if there was something else going on. I don't know, I was careful I think- and left 50# or more a hive. Still- I suddenly had to feed them white sugar. I put it on dry, then on foil mixed to a paste, and have put about 12# a hive on in three months. And they eat it- or something- I can't tell. I don't see it stored when I look, but can hear them munching on it at night.
Which all seemed good- like I could take the hives starving off my anxiety list. So I have been checking once a week to make sure each has sugar, but i haven't opened them to see if they are storing anything. And the sugar is right next to the cluster- in fact, they are on it, so I wasn't worried about them being too far away.
But then yesterday I noticed that one hive had nothing flying. The other hives were boiling. I opened the hive and sure enough, they were nearly all dead- a strong hive. And there was lots of sugar left on top, with a few bees picking through it. There was lots of brood too- uncared for. I took one frame of capped brood and put it another hive (which seems to have worked- they aren't cleaning them out, so I guess they are still alive, which surprised me).
So I was mortified- another expensive, painful lesson. The other hives seemed fine- but i went through them alll, and found zero to minimal stores in 8, and lots of stores in 2 or 3. No rhume or reason I could tell. Like different metabolisms in each hive. So i mixed syrup and got it to each hive as quick as I could, and while there, flipped the brood boxes. I think we're early- there is lots of brood, and it felt like the queens were moving up. I say this as in a number of hives where I had left a 2 inch spacer for the sugar on top, they had built loose brood comb, and there was lots of brood in these- way on top. So I put here back down, with the goal of having 3 brood boxes.
Food will still be a problem. I am thinking about internal frame feeders. I need to feed them alot- and itd be about the same cost as a four hole feeder plus jars- and less hassle.
In any case, a disappointment. Plus- its early- and I am seeing a lot (I think) of mites- more than I would expect.
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