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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #8332  by Steve 1972
 27 Jul 2020, 18:43
Well today's inspection of the three nucs was splendid..my little juggling act has done the job..all three now have equal amount of bees..lets hope the Queens are in there laying away come the weekend..
I also ordered another Queen to make the 4th nuc back up on Saturday..
 #8337  by Chrisbarlow
 28 Jul 2020, 12:06
Sounds good Steve. Equalising is brilliant.. makes weak nucs stronger and strong nucs not needing to be moved to a brood box.
 #8340  by NigelP
 28 Jul 2020, 12:47
I thought queens were meant to slow down laying after the June solstice.....
I was preparing some hives for the moors this morning. Generally I knock double brood down to single and increase space with additional supers. Often find the bottom box is empty this time of year. Not this year... :roll:
Both brood boxes crammed with brood in the 2 I've looked at so far. My poor back moving them tomorrow.
 #8341  by Chrisbarlow
 28 Jul 2020, 12:51
NigelP wrote:
28 Jul 2020, 12:47
I thought queens were meant to slow down laying after the June solstice.....
I was preparing some hives for the moors this morning. Generally I knock double brood down to single and increase space with additional supers. Often find the bottom box is empty this time of year. Not this year... :roll:
Both brood boxes crammed with brood in the 2 I've looked at so far. My poor back moving them tomorrow.


Colonies are doing very well at the moment. I moved a double nuc to a colony a couple of days ago and it was ten frames of sealed brood. I was a little surprised even considering it was a newly mated queen.
 #8345  by Bobbysbees
 28 Jul 2020, 19:06
Had a peek in the top box of my no.1 hive they are drawing some of the foundation. But i think i might just condense them into a single brood box for winter. As i can't see them drawing out the top box by September without pouring syrup onto them. Its just my first season so Im not too sure. Just picking up tips on youtube and figuring things out as i go. :?:
 #8348  by AdamD
 29 Jul 2020, 12:12
If you are not going to take any (more) honey off from now, this is the time of the year for preparing for winter and varroa treatment. My strong colonies will remain on double brood over winter. Others will have a super of stores as well as a brood box of stores - with the super put underneath in Spetember. It's definitely better to have them well-prepared for winter than have to consider fondant in spring.
 #8349  by Bobbysbees
 29 Jul 2020, 14:28
May be a silly question but if they are a bit short on stores heading into winter whats the best feed? Iv heard heavy syrup but some people have said just to drop a block of fondant over the crown board. I assume there is little point in using pollen patties till spring in order to help them build up :?:
 #8350  by NigelP
 29 Jul 2020, 17:17
For winter feed either does the trick, most use heavy syrup and some use fondant blocks. Syrup is much cheaper than fondant, so your choice really.
Adding a dash of thymol to your syrup will help prevent any moulds growing and is supposed to prevent Nosemas (but don't quote me on that one)..
1000x stock is 10g Thymol crystals dissolved in 50ml of Isopropyl alcohol. Add 1 ml per liter and it will keep forever.
 #8352  by Steve 1972
 29 Jul 2020, 18:38
Bobbysbees wrote:
29 Jul 2020, 14:28
May be a silly question but if they are a bit short on stores heading into winter whats the best feed? Iv heard heavy syrup but some people have said just to drop a block of fondant over the crown board. I assume there is little point in using pollen patties till spring in order to help them build up :?:
After my summer extraction which is around the back end of August to the beginning of September i feed all my colonies until they stop taking it..i feed 2:1 sugar syrup as per Nigel's instructions with Thymol added..if i suspect they are a little light in weight come December 2kg of fondant is placed on the top bars with a 2in eke added and the closed crown board on top of the eke..
 #8356  by AdamD
 30 Jul 2020, 09:06
Thick syrup needs less work for the bees to evaporate the water off compared to thin syrup and a colony reputedly needs 40 lbs (8 frames) of sealed stores in a National brood box to over-winter. If you have a poly hive or insulate above the crown-board you may need less as the bees need less energy to keep warm. Some bees (Italians) have a reputation for keeping a large brood-nest in winter and consequently use more stores. Others shrink down to a small size; The british black bee (if they still exist (!) ) is one of these. It is possible to over-feed in late summer/autumn and reduce the laying space of the queen. A 14 x 12 or Commercial hive will be easily big enough.
Some of beekeeping suppliers imply that you need to feed pollen substitute; I don't think this is required unless your bees are in a poor area or if there is a difficult autumn (winter bees are not well-nourished or there is little pollen stores going into winter) or spring when a cold wet spell can slow development of the colony. Although they do make up when the weather improves.
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