National Bee Unit

Regional Bee Inspector’s Newsletter – June 2011

apiarymanager National Bee Unit

Here is the latest news from Frank Gellatly.  You can also download a pdf version.

I have been holding back from writing a Wales inspectorate’s newsletter until we have our new recruits in place and I can introduce them. The process has been slow because of the public sector recruitment freeze and it is still not finalised. However, I am confident that we will fill the vacancies and that they will be in post very soon. I will send out details of our new inspectors and the new inspection areas as soon as I can confirm them. Until then, I am pleased to say that our newsletter has been missed and, because events are threatening to overtake us, I will wait no longer.
As usual, the highs and lows of our beekeeping fortunes are dictated by the weather. After a warm April, when colonies built up very well, May turned cool and wet in West Wales, and drier and cool in East Wales. Those close to oil seed rape found that the flow ended abruptly while it was still in flower due to the drought conditions and that only pollen continued to come in. At the same time, the tree blossom fell prematurely and the nectar flow from the ground plants dried up. For most of May, we have had cool windy damp weather, cold nights and not much rain in many areas so that there is a serious soil water deficiency.

These conditions do not stop the swarming impulse. In fact, colonies that had built up strongly on the rape and then were idle in the hive with no foraging to do, have now turned their energies to swarming – if they had not done so previously. I fear that many of these have gone feral and perished due to starvation. You should inspect your bees regularly, weekly at this time of year. Only then can you be up to speed with what’s going on in the hives and manage any potential swarming.  Queen mating and requeening after swarming, splits and so on, has been very slow. This makes for irritable bees when they have no open brood to look after. On our travels, we have seen splits, nucs and even some slow developing colonies that missed the April nectar flow, on the point of starvation. If you find that your colony is light and lethargic, give it a feed of 1kg/1 litre of sugar
syrup, spraying some on the bees or dribbling on the top bars in extreme circumstances. If you are doubtful that there is a queen in the colony, then give it a frame of eggs and young brood from a queen right colony. Provided the bees have not been left too long and become weak and demoralized, they should make emergency queen cells and right the hive. To subdue a restless, hungry hive, you can carry a hand sprayer containing weak sugar solution to wet them and keep them under control while inspecting.

The warm, calmer weather now should allow all those unmated virgins to get out and mate at last. Remember that they need five days to mature after emergence and then have a three week window of time in which to mate before they become stale. This fine spell has come just in time. Meanwhile, the blackberry, clover and rosebay willow herb promise to be in flower early and we await a flow from them.

The inspectorate team has been busy working on the National Bee Unit’s two year Random Apiary Survey sampling programme. This came to a close on 31st May. I am assured that the results of the pathogen screening of the samples collected from around Wales will be posted on Beebase by November this year. We will be visiting new beekeepers in the coming weeks so, when you get your bees, please visit Beebase and self register your details, and we will be in touch.

I will sign off with thanks to David Coles , Seasonal Bee Inspector for South Powys, for allowing me to use some of his seasonal notes and wish you a very productive summer.

Frank Gellatly

Are your bees starving?

apiarymanager Feeding Bees and Starvation, National Bee Unit

Frank Gellatly (RBI Wales) has recently provided this timely advice on checking your bees for stores and what to do if you find them short of supplies.  For more information on feeding bees throughout the year you can also download the NBU’s Best Practice Guideline – Feeding Bees.

Regional Bee Inspector’s Newsletter and Advice – June 2011

apiarymanager Feeding Bees and Starvation, National Bee Unit

Please read the RBI Summer 2011 Newsletter and important information below from Frank Gellatly.

 

Are your bees starving?

National Bee Unit – Advice Note 2nd June 2011

This year has seen exceptional weather with some regions having the driest spring for a century whilst others such as Scotland receiving far more precipitation than average. Especially in the south and east of England early spring saw good nectar flows but mid May saw the start of the ‘June gap’. It has been particularly pronounced with bees consuming stores at a rapid rate. If drought conditions continue nectar production will be affected.

It is important that colony store levels are checked particularly if a spring crop such as oil seed rape has been taken. At this time an average colony should have at least 4-5 combs with honey/sugar stores, i.e. 9 kg. or 20lb. If not and there is still no significant nectar flow feed them sugar syrup. In extreme cases, if the bees are starving on the comb, spray them with a thin sugar syrup solution and fill an empty comb with sugar syrup. This can be done by pouring the syrup into the cells slowly using a honey jar filled with sugar syrup and closed with a lid having 3 mm holes on opposite sides, or using a squeezy bottle, e.g. a cleansed washing up fluid bottle. When filled, place the comb adjacent to the bees.

The effects of insufficient stores are at worst death of the colony and at best a reduction of bee production. Bees require a supply of honey or sugar, pollen and water to produce brood food. If any of these ingredients are in short supply it causes a reduction or stop of the brood nest and will impact colony productivity and well being through the remaining season and possibly impact on overwintering.

To make sugar syrup use white granulated sugar. With modern production methods it makes no difference if it was sourced from cane or beet. Do not use brown or raw sugars as they contain impurities. The syrup should be made up in the proportion of 1 kg. of granulated sugar to 630 ml. of water or 2 lb. sugar to 1 pt. of water. There is no need to boil the mixture but using hot water helps. Stir regularly to remove the air bubbles and dissolve all the crystals. When fully dissolved the mixture is clear and a very pale straw colour. It can be fed to colonies by using rapid or contact feeders. [Feeding Bees Factsheet}

Syrup used for emergency feeding at this time can be made using twice the quantity of water, commonly known as ‘thin syrup’. This helps the bees as they do not have to collect as much water for brood food production.

 Happy Beekeeping!