Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Psparr on August 11, 2013, 09:14:33 pm
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First year hive. Has three deeps. Bottom deep was brood chamber at the start, has a lot of drone comb. They have been using that whole deep for pollen storage. The second is all brood, and the third was half brood and about half capped honey.
Well I went in today and there's NO capped honey!
And the queen has filled all my formerly capped honey cells with eggs, with a decent amount of open nectar on the periphery. The goldenrod hasn't bloomed yet but there is a large orchard a mile away. So I'm not thinking we're in a dearth. Unless there is a dearth and no one told the queen. They are bringing in pollen, it has been a little rainy lately.
So question, if we do get a goldenrod flow and they still don't have enough stores, how late can I feed them? I hope I don't have to.
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You can feed them as long as it's 50 F. or above. I would start now. They don't have enough to feed the brood they have now.
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Sounds to me like you are out of space? You said three boxes, all full. Where would they store feed/ nectar if they it. Do you not need to add another box or did I read this wrong?
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I agree it seems like your out of space. Here in western PA there is very little flow at least in my area. the goldenrod is just beginning. my girls are finding pollen but are draining the neighbors hummingbird feeders. I have been feeding them for about 2 weeks now i'll stop when the daytime temps are around 50 degrees or when a flow is on and they leave the feeders alone.
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There are four boxes on the hive, but the fourth is foundation. They don't seem crowded though. Out of usable space yes, but not crowded.
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There are four boxes on the hive, but the fourth is foundation. They don't seem crowded though. Out of usable space yes, but not crowded.
First mention of a fourth box of foundation--- no don't sound like crowded.
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sounds like they burned through their stores because of the rain. We just discussed this at my club meeting last night. They eat it and the queen immediately fills it with eggs. Maybe rotate the bottom box to the top and under the box of foundation. The bees like to work up.
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sounds like they burned through their stores because of the rain. We just discussed this at my club meeting last night. They eat it and the queen immediately fills it with eggs. Maybe rotate the bottom box to the top and under the box of foundation. The bees like to work up.
Bees will consume stores during inclimate weather both to survive and to rear more brood, when the honey and pollen is gone they will cannablize the brood, eggs, larva, and any pupa still in the white. A hive can starve to death in less than a weak if the weather remains bad and the hive continues to rear brood.
Happens a lot in the spring. Most spring hive losses are due to starvation due to rapid brood buildup and bad weather.
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Feed them well so they can survive and may build comb in the fourth super. Then they hopefully will be ready when your goldenrod comes in. I checked my hives last week, and all but one had plenty of stores. i started feeding them. The way the weather was here this year I haven't taken any honey yet. Some of the local beeks that have, the humidity has been so high that their honey has a high moisture content. Good luck to you and your bees.
Joe
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Thanks all for your replies.