Following the poor summer and general lack of honey during the main flow, many beekeepers are reporting that their colonies are short of food.
Could we therefore suggest as a matter of urgency, that you check your colonies for stores and if necessary put on feeders of syrup? Also, remember to check your colonies are queenright and monitor/treat for Varroa as appropriate!
Beekeepers may wish to monitor their colony food levels closely over the next month as many colonies, particularly those which are strong and had their spring honey crop removed, will be at risk of starving. In some parts of the UK, the weather is still cold and foraging opportunities for large colonies are few and far between. It is important to check and monitor all your colonies feed levels, if you do not wish to open them up because of poor weather, lift below the floor, in turn, on both sides of the hive to see how much it weighs. Where the hive is light, liquid feed should be applied directly above the bees. Feed can be prepared from refined white sugar and water mixed at a 2:1 ratio or one of the proprietary ready mixed syrups available from Beekeeping equipment suppliers. More information about mixing up sugar can be found in the Best Practice Guidelines no. 7 http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=167
Large starving colonies of bees will take 1 gallon (approx. 5 Litres) of syrup very quickly while smaller colonies will take half a gallon (approx. 2.5 Litres). After feeding, heft the hives again and check the weight and if in doubt feed some more in a few days.
Please note that we have been getting reports of significant amounts of brood in hives due to the mild weather. We would recommend therefore, that all members check their hives for stores and if the hives are light put on some fondant in order to avoid starvation problems.
Nectar flows have ceased and reports are coming in of bee colonies which are short of stores. It is also apparent that Wasps have been very populous in many areas and they too are desperate for nutrition so Beekeepers should be mindful of the need to protect hives from Wasp invasion particularly where feeding is taking place in the apiary.
Colonies particularly at Risk are:
• Bee Colonies where supers of honey have been removed this season and no feeding has taken place.
• Splits / Artificial Swarms and Nucleus colonies made up this year.
• Swarms collected this year where little or no supplementary feeding has taken place.
Immediate action:
• Firstly – Check all colonies feed levels by ‘hefting the hive’ – Check the weight of the colony by lifting below the floor on both sides of the hive to see how much it weighs. Where the hive is light, liquid feed should be applied directly above the bees. Remove any supers from above the brood box which are empty or have few bees in them. This will help the bees get to the food quickly.
• Feed can be sugar and water mixed at 2:1 ratio or one of the proprietary ready mixed syrups available.
• Fondant can be used in an emergency if nothing else is available – but liquid feed will be more appropriate at this time of the season.
• Large starving colonies of bees will take 1 gallon (Approx 5 Litres) of syrup very quickly – smaller colonies ½ gallon (Approx 2.5 Litres) may be sufficient to keep them going, but after feeding heft hives again and check the weight – if in doubt feed some more in a few days time.
Further information and Guidance:
Further information on supplementary feeding can be found on Beebase – Best Practice Guideline Number 7 – ‘Emergency Feeding’
We will shortly be ordering MAQS strips for the autumn Varroa treatment and Invertbee syrup for the winter feed.
If any PBKA members are interested in purchasing MAQS strips and/or Invertbee syrup through the association, please contact Paul Eades, the Apiary Manager on pbkaapiarymanager@live.co.uk by Friday 7th August at the very latest.
Please note that this offer is strictly open to PBKA members only.
Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association 