Author Topic: Do you remember my crying over this hive??? (Read 5529 times)

annette · « **on:** July 14, 2007, 01:38:43 pm »

Remember my crying over this hive???? It got diagnosed with DWV (deformed wing virus) and they were pushing out sick bees every evening. Well they seem to have gotten better. No more sick bees on the ground. Many, many new bees flying and doing orientation flights. They are bringing in lots of pollen.

In other words, they seem to have gotten better. The mite count very low, and I am still working to get it down more.

Now my problem is they missed the honey flow when they were sick and made very, very little honey. This was fine when there was a little population. Now the population is exploding again and they seem to have eaten all the honey that they made.

I just started to feed them 1:1 sugar syrup and they can't get enough. I guess I will just have to continue feeding them the sugar syrup until when????? We do have a small flow coming next month, but I wonder if they will make enough to get through the winter.

So my dear experienced beekeeping friends, do I have to feed this little hive all through the winter??? Another new experience for me.

My other hive (I have only 2 hives) has just enough honey for itself, as I took some for me in June. If I had known that this hive would make it, I probably would not have taken any honey from the other hive for myself. Now I have this dilema.

Thanks for any help

Annette

JP · « **Reply #1 on:** July 14, 2007, 02:07:50 pm »

Annette, I would feed them until they don't take any more. Also, you may try adding hbh to your mix for a healthy boost. When and if you have a really good fall flow and they are healthy, they should pack on the honey. You just may have to do some additional feeding this winter...that's beekeeping for ya.

doak · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2007, 02:17:07 pm »

If you do not have another good flo, feed them.
doak

sean · « **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2007, 10:08:27 pm »

Happy to know they are ok now and recovering

TwT · « **Reply #4 on:** July 14, 2007, 11:52:43 pm »

JUST FEED THEM UNTIL YOU INSPECT AND SEE STORES, YOU WILL have a fall flow and small ones in between those so don't treat this hive, seems like you got some survivors like mine, I had a hive that did as yours about 3 years ago and it is still goings, I have raised from this hive and all these are still going also, and I have never treated a hive in my life, going on 5 years beekeeping now so feel good!!!!!!, the only bee's I ever bought that I have never treated was from PBA Brothers 2 years ago, might get a few more this year......

rdy-b · « **Reply #5 on:** July 15, 2007, 02:19:13 am »

1:1 is to thin for food stores go to 2:1 I would not count on the flow ;reason being drought year ; honey hard to come by when plants cant make nectar.let them store a surplus of syrup. be careful of the ants when feeding syrup it is a ant magnet especially under drought conditions.give them pollen patties in october you will be good to go. how did you knock down the mites ?I know you like powdered sugar treatments dose that draw a lot of ants?every location is a little different as far as management sounds like you are overcoming the obstacles. I am glad for you RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #6 on:** July 15, 2007, 06:49:02 am »

My hunch is that we will have a good fall flow, because we are getting rain for the last several weeks now, that we should have gotten in the spring, and the plants have no reason but to drink all this rain in, lets hope the rain continues, and have those supers ready for a fall flow.

annette · « **Reply #7 on:** July 15, 2007, 01:35:49 pm »

Quote from: rdy-b on July 15, 2007, 02:19:13 am

1:1 is to thin for food stores go to 2:1 I would not count on the flow ;reason being drought year ; honey hard to come by when plants cant make nectar.let them store a surplus of syrup. be careful of the ants when feeding syrup it is a ant magnet especially under drought conditions.give them pollen patties in october you will be good to go. how did you knock down the mites ?I know you like powdered sugar treatments dose that draw a lot of ants?every location is a little different as far as management sounds like you are overcoming the obstacles. I am glad for you RDY-B

I have noticed some really large ants crawling up the hive to go into the syrup. But only about 2-3. Nothing to worry about right now. I have used only the powdered sugar dusting every week to knock off the mites. It is working so far. Have not noticed any large amount of ants being drawn when I do the powdered sugar treatments. I have these large army ants crawling around on the ground in front of the hive all summer looking for weak or dead bees. But nothing crawling on the hives itself. Perhaps a few small ants here or there, but nothing more. I do sprinkle cinnamon powder around the legs of the tables once in a while, which seems to work. I am trying to have a different attitude regarding ants. Per Michael Bush, bees and ants have lived together for ages, so I am not worried about a few ants coming and going occasionally.

Regarding the ratio of sugar to water, well can you break it down for me simply. I am doing 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. So you are saying 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water?????

Also about these pollen patties, what kind to give and where to purchase them???? I have bought from Sacto Bee Supply but I do not like the brand they sell (Bee Pro) as I had heard it is not very good. What does everyone feel about this????

Thank you all for all the support and good wishes, as it really helps to feel such good vibrations from you all.

Thanks
Annette

annette · « **Reply #8 on:** July 15, 2007, 01:42:23 pm »

Thank you all once again. Each and every one of you.

rdy-b, TwT, Sean, JP, Doak - Thank you for the positive feedback and yes I hope and pray there will be some fall flow. You all know how much I suffered with this little hive and now that they are coming back, I really want to help them. I will take all these suggestions seriously and do the best I can.

rdy-b · « **Reply #9 on:** July 15, 2007, 02:26:46 pm »

JP we are at About 29% of are average rain fall this year can i bring my bees to your house :-D Annette 2parts sugar -one part water will make you a good mix.mannlake in woodland will sell you syrup in a five gallon bucket. your bucket. cheap as you can make it from store bought goods. but you probably fell better mixing your own auk any way they also have patties of different mixes. I get the ones with a large percent of natural pollen in them.they are the people that make and distribute bee pro last year they improved apon the mix patties are top of the line may be sacto had old stock. sacto people are good people but i am surprised you have not gone to woodland they have a show room there and you will fell like a kid in a candy store any way at least get a catalog from them they always put a lot of tips and info in those catalogs for your benefit 8-) enjoy RDY-B

JP · « **Reply #10 on:** July 15, 2007, 03:27:11 pm »

Rdy-b, we are getting lots of rain this weekend and this past week. It is much needed. We were extremely dry this spring. I just hope it continues into the fall. If you bring your bees by, I will put them next to the bed and keep a light on for 'em. :-D

Annette, you are quite welcome, I wish you continued luck with your bees. We bee a big happy family, awwwh. ;)

Cindi · « **Reply #11 on:** July 16, 2007, 11:47:31 am »

Annette, my heart goes out to you, in a happy, happy way. I remember your plight and sadness of the loss of so many bees in your dear little colony, it was a sad state of the affair. I am happy, happy, happy.

When you feed your bees, yes go for the 2:1 ratio. This is good for the bees as they do not have to evaporate the water from it as much as the 1:1. In our area the only time that we fed the 1:1 is in the early spring, for a short time to mimic the nectar flow to get the queen and bees really going. Other than that: always the 2:1. It is easy to make.

We were taught in our lessons that in order to prevent the sugar from granulation at this high concentration is to bring the sugar syrup mixture almost to a boil, do not boil. This evidently prevents the crystalization, which can be a nuisance for sure. I have seen sugar crystalize in just a very few short days. Weird eh? Of course, you must always cool the syrup, we know that the bees cannot take it hot :roll:, it would surely burn their tongues.

Good luck, Annette. Feed the bees definitely, you are not taking honey off anymore from this colony and they will use whatever you give them. When the little flows happen, they will not use the sugar syrup, but it is always there in the event of a dearth. Yeah!!! Good for you girl, happy day, great life, great health. Cindi

annette · « **Reply #12 on:** July 16, 2007, 12:26:14 pm »

Thank you Cindi,

Please somone reply about how to measure the sugar syrup.

I am doing 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Now I will switch to 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water. Is this correct???? (You have to simplify this for me, I am terrible at math) I boil the water first, shut it off then add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Wait until cool, then give to bees.

Thanks dear people for the warm response. I will let you all know how the hive is doing.

Annette

annette · « **Reply #13 on:** July 16, 2007, 01:17:34 pm »

Actually, rdy-b replied regarding the sugar syrup mixture. So I understand what to do. Just had to go back and read the posts again.
Thank you rdy-b for the info on Mann Lake, I am going to go there, as it sounds like so much fun.

Annette

Scadsobees · « **Reply #14 on:** July 16, 2007, 01:38:55 pm »

I don't think it matters what ratio of feed you give them in the summer....it seems to me that if it is hot and dry the 1:1 ratio might be better, less water that they have to bring back to cool the hive off, the evaporation will do that for them. 1:1 will also stimulate them to reproduce faster (I don't know if that is what you want at this point but they were knocked back pretty hard) and draw comb if needed.

the 2:1 sugar:water is used when they don't have much time or weather to evaporate honey, ie in the fall .

Just a thought.

Rick

rdy-b · « **Reply #15 on:** July 16, 2007, 09:46:19 pm »

1:1 to stimulate queen and wax production they dont cap it they consume it 2:1 they willcap and save for food stores ;) :) :lol:

Michael Bush · « **Reply #16 on:** July 17, 2007, 08:08:56 pm »

What kind of feeder are you using? A jar with just three holes or so will slow them down a little so they don't fill the brood nest with syrup, but they have a steady flow of nectar. I'd feed, just keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't being robbed and that the brood nest isn't full of syrup.

annette · « **Reply #17 on:** July 17, 2007, 08:53:26 pm »

I have the inner feeder from Mann Lake, which holds a lot of syrup. Will the broodnest look like nectar is in the cells?? (when you say too much syrup in the broodnest) I will check on the brood nest tomorrow to see what is going on now. I thought they make honey out of this syrup? and place it where they would place regular nectar.

Please reply
Annette

Cindi · « **Reply #18 on:** July 17, 2007, 09:42:53 pm »

Rick, I think that you have some good points there. It does sound like some places lower on the globe that have extremely dry weather conditions. The 1:1 would probably help immensely with the water requirements for the bees, never looked at it in that light before. Good. Have a wonderful day, great life, Cindi

rdy-b · « **Reply #19 on:** July 17, 2007, 11:30:26 pm »

annette as long as they have a place to put it they will not plug out on syrup if you have consolidated down to one box then during this process of building food stores you may wish to add second box or a medium supper to accommodate there need for space to store there winter reserves of food. let them move at there pace and the bees will be bees a wise bee keeper told me that the number one rule of keeping bees is to let the bees be bees he is a member of the list so I made it my rule also 8-) RDY-B