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Thread: Absconding bees from Apidea

  1. #21

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    Ron Brown of Devon (sadly no longer with us) came up with a solution to the problem of feeding Apideas. He filled cutcomb containers with fondant with a access hole in the lid and placed this "feed cassette" in the feeder compartment (it just fits). Because the container occupies most of the space in the compartment the bees are inhibited from building comb in it. Restocking the Apidea with feed is really swift / straight forward consisting of simply removing the empty cutcomb container and replacing it with a full one

  2. #22

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    That's a neat idea, master bk, thanks.

  3. #23
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by masterbk View Post
    He filled cutcomb containers with fondant with a access hole in the lid and placed this "feed cassette" in the feeder compartment (it just fits).
    We have a guy in our group does this and he keeps letting his apideas starve.
    I remember phoning him one day last summer to say that all his feeders were empty and he waited 4 days before refilling and by that time a load of them had starved.
    The container reduces the capacity of the feeder by at least 30-40% so if you do this you have to check feed levels more often especially in poor weather.
    In principle it is a neat and tidy solution but you do have to keep a closer eye on the Apideas in poor weather, especially if they have started to feed brood.
    Running Apideas is very much a hands on way of rearing queens and you have to read the situation frequently.
    lack of checking can lead to starvation.
    Too much liquid feed and they can clog up the cells in the 3 frames leaving the queen nowhere to lay.

    I keep a couple of kilos of ordinary white sugar near the apideas.
    You can refill the feed compartment without even removing the inner cover.
    You put your finger over the inner cover above the feeder excluder slot to hold it in place and bend the cover up at the back so you can pour in the sugar.
    Do this slowly so that bees in the feeder can climb up the sugar as the level is rising.
    Wet the surface with a garden sprayer but don't liquify the sugar by over doing the spray.
    You can easily check and fill about 30-40 Apideas in an hour like this.

    Comb in the feeder is not a big problem as long as the queen cannot get in to hide, or worse still, start to lay.
    The comb is easily removed as long as you know where the queen is.
    I often just leave it as they use it as a ladder and you can still refill the feeder with either sugar or syrup.
    Last edited by Jon; 22-05-2013 at 10:08 AM.

  4. #24
    Senior Member prakel's Avatar
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    Do I sense that 'Jon's Apidea Management' wil soon be rolling off the press? If not, it should be.

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by masterbk View Post
    Ron Brown of Devon (sadly no longer with us) came up with a solution to the problem of feeding Apideas. He filled cutcomb containers with fondant with a access hole in the lid and placed this "feed cassette" in the feeder compartment (it just fits). Because the container occupies most of the space in the compartment the bees are inhibited from building comb in it. Restocking the Apidea with feed is really swift / straight forward consisting of simply removing the empty cutcomb container and replacing it with a full one
    The Galtee Bee Breeders have been using an 8 oz cut comb container with the end removed, for many years. Where the idea originated I don't now recall, quite possibly it evolved as a feeding method simultaneously in a number of areas. It is also possible to "pre-shape" some q. candy wrapped in polythene and use that - be advised I have patents pending on that technique. Lining the feed compartment is helpful, but using solid feed is essential, otherwise turning the box upside down would be impossible. For those not familiar with Apideas, they are filled with a mug of bees through an opening in the underside.

    EDIT; I have just seen that Jon has posted a comprehensive reply while I was typing this - I was unaware he was doing so.
    Last edited by Dark Bee; 22-05-2013 at 10:18 AM.

  6. #26
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Bee View Post
    but using solid feed is essential, otherwise turning the box upside down would be impossible. For those not familiar with Apideas, they are filled with a mug of bees through an opening in the underside.
    DB
    I always fill my apideas with bees first (through the floor) and then put the feed in the feed compartment later by bending up the inner cover.
    I usually fill 8 -10 at a time and I set them up in a row upside down with the floors slid open.
    Each one gets a scoop of wet bees and the floor is closed and the apidea set the right way up.
    When they are all filled I put in the feed.

    This stack here was filled with bees in an afternoon and each got its feeder half filled with syrup afterwards.

    apideas piled high.jpg

    The queen cells went in 24 hours later.
    That stuff you read about filling with bees and leaving in the dark for 3 days is completely unnecessary.
    You can feed whatever way you want after putting in the bees as there is room to get fondant or the cut comb container into the feeder by bending up the inner cover at the back.
    I think it was one of the Galtee people demonstrated this when we were at a demo day at Michaél's in 2010 as part of the Bibba conference in Cahir.

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by prakel View Post
    Do I sense that 'Jon's Apidea Management' wil soon be rolling off the press? If not, it should be.
    Must admit when I first posted I was hoping Jon would reply, not to say everybody else's contribution is not welcome!

  8. #28
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by beejazz View Post
    Must admit when I first posted I was hoping Jon would reply, not to say everybody else's contribution is not welcome!
    He is the bees knees. You shouldn't go saying things like that though - can't have him getting too sure of himself!


  9. #29
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    How much did your tats cost Gav?

  10. #30
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    These knees are much too handsome to be mine. The bees are almost good enough to do morphometry on if anyone is up for it.
    Last edited by gavin; 22-05-2013 at 05:37 PM.

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