Starvation alert

[busybeephilip]

This is where the bee house is good. In the winter cold it is only a couple or three degrees warmer than outside but it is never damp. I can light cardboard that's been in there for over a year. The hives are about 2 ft above the ground and protected from damp k

Beehouse sounds ideal, this evening and for the last few days it been rain and cold, my harvest is disappearing before my eyes ! looks like some rally bad weather heading my way for the beginning of August

[Jon]

Not looking good Phil. I took a dozen or so queens from apideas this morning in horizontal rain with the temperature around 10c.
The big colonies must be going through any excess stores at the moment.
I had to feed a lot of Apideas today and I have managed to avoid that for most of the summer.
It is a real shame about the weather as there is a lot of forage available at the moment, bramble balsam, willowherb and more.

[Calluna4u]

Not looking good Phil. I took a dozen or so queens from apideas this morning in horizontal rain with the temperature around 10c.
The big colonies must be going through any excess stores at the moment.
I had to feed a lot of Apideas today and I have managed to avoid that for most of the summer.
It is a real shame about the weather as there is a lot of forage available at the moment, bramble balsam, willowherb and more.

Its the same here in eastern Scotland. Many floral sources available but the bees (of all racial types) have brought in nothing for quite some time and hunger is becoming pressing.

Just posted on the beekeeping forum that I was out with the bee inspectors yesterday seeing a group of ours that were within the 3Km circle round a recently reported AFB case. Nothing was found after a full inspection, but the big thing is that they had NO food. They were in a sheltered spot between a big OSR field, and a field of beans, so had abundant forage up to three weeks ago. They now have plentiful bramble, lime, willowherb and balsam in flower within about a quarter mile, and they are getting NOTHING.
These bees (there are different racial types in the group but all are affected much the same) have had no honey at all taken from them and in a few days time would be in a bad way.

Feed tanks go out today, as starvation is now a very serious problem in these parts, and maybe worth a new thread on its own as many who are drifting along unaware of this developing situation might not pick up the warning buried away on this thread.

If there was nectar and the weather forecast OK then I would not be too concerned, but the forecast is dire, with a major storm sweeping across northern and western areas early next week, and the remainder of August forecast to be cool wet and windy. Now starting to look serious, and already we have a summer closely resembling 1985. Feed your bees now if they need it, and while the weather continues like this feed them little and often, it keeps the queens going and gives a chance of young bees for the winter. The losses in the winter of 85/86 were very severe indeed and the time may be now for taking steps to avoid sleepwalking into another similar situation.

All is not lost yet as long term forecasts are notoriously approximate and can be wildly wrong. However, just in case, we start feeding today in amounts to keep them alive and keep the queen active. Cannot afford any more than that!

You mention the Apideas, we have been having to feed them weekly now for at least a month, ditto the Kielers. The cell builders stopped doing more than a couple of cells on each graft about two weeks back, only responding better if fed continuously. Have now pulled the plug on all new grafts and cells for the season and winding the unit down for winter, a couple of weeks earlier than planned. The July queens are probably going to be problematical for mating quality and we are finding too many drone layers again, as was the case in May. Not a good season for the project, though the June queens are looking very nice.

[Bridget]

Its the same here in eastern Scotland. Many floral sources available but the bees (of all racial types) have brought in nothing for quite some time and hunger is becoming pressing.

Just posted on the beekeeping forum that I was out with the bee inspectors yesterday seeing a group of ours that were within the 3Km circle round a recently reported AFB case. Nothing was found after a full inspection, but the big thing is that they had NO food. They were in a sheltered spot between a big OSR field, and a field of beans, so had abundant forage up to three weeks ago. They now have plentiful bramble, lime, willowherb and balsam in flower within about a quarter mile, and they are getting NOTHING.
These bees (there are different racial types in the group but all are affected much the same) have had no honey at all taken from them and in a few days time would be in a bad way.

I hope you don't mind Calluna4u but I have quoted some of your post on our Facebook page, Spey Beekeepers Association, so as to inform folk of your concerns. If this is not ok I will take it down.


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[Calluna4u]

I hope you don't mind Calluna4u but I have quoted some of your post on our Facebook page, Spey Beekeepers Association, so as to inform folk of your concerns. If this is not ok I will take it down.


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No issues with that whatsoever. FWIW, just so you know, the colonies from within the AFB circle are NOT headed to Speyside. They have been passed by Steve and his team as clear, but will still be going to a very isolated location in Upper Deeside with no neighbouring beekeepers.

[gavin]

Thanks for that C4U. I've been wondering about sending an email round the local associations and will do now having read your post. Just back from the association apiary where I've let two nucs starve and had other colonies getting close. In my own apiaries the Paynes nucs are almost all being fed and some of the full colonies now also have feed on.

It is striking that the colonies without good laying queens (too many of them!) are the ones still with stores. Those raising brood are often the ones on the brink.

Are you sure that closing the queen raising unit early is the best way? The forecast looks slightly better from 5th August and even on days like today the drones are flying. Jon gets good mating into September.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Gavin
I have 18 Q/C near to hatch but I'm not counting my chickens
I have 8 or 9 laying in Keilers at the moment cover for any late failures
If I was you I would carry on with things at the AMM breeding station that really is a special case
But I'm inclined to think C4 is right and there's a potential for a lot wasted effort with so much else to be done

Let us know how the mini plus mating hives got on if you can

I have weighed up Keilers and Apideas and being honest I think Keilers are easier and better

[Calluna4u]

Thanks for that C4U. I've been wondering about sending an email round the local associations and will do now having read your post. Just back from the association apiary where I've let two nucs starve and had other colonies getting close. In my own apiaries the Paynes nucs are almost all being fed and some of the full colonies now also have feed on.

It is striking that the colonies without good laying queens (too many of them!) are the ones still with stores. Those raising brood are often the ones on the brink.

Are you sure that closing the queen raising unit early is the best way? The forecast looks slightly better from 5th August and even on days like today the drones are flying. Jon gets good mating into September.

A decision slightly out of my own hands.

1. Have plentiful mated queens now waiting to be used so would have only a little use for late ones.
2. Visited Jolanta and Beata at the queen unit today. Its carnage. They have never seen it so much before but the drone mother colonies are very forcibly evicting the drones. Literally thousands of them flying around trying to get into hives and being dragged back out by the legs and wings.
3. Still plenty pollen about but the bees think its over. I don't really believe you get the best results fighting them.

We got some good September matings last year, but the colonies carried enough drones through for that, and maybe it will be the same this year, but we have enough queens for our own use now anyway, to top up the nuc numbers to the full level, and to have some spare for late requeenings that might be needed. Not selling any more as I am not confident of the July quality.

By closing it down I really meant that no more grafts and no fresh boxes going out. The existing ones will carry on through August for us to take queens as required. Just the effort to make more that is being closed down.

Off to feed 150 Paynes myself now.

[Emma]

Here in my sheltered, flower-rich bubble I started feeding some bees last week, and today I've been swithering about feeding most of the rest. There's been a slight difference between the most profligate colonies and the rest, but not so much. (One queen's workers just seem to spend anything they've got on boys & swarming, this spring and last, then make a small nest to wait out the winter in - party bees! They were running on empty last week.)
I'm hearing lime trees humming loud whenever it's dry enough - but that includes times, like 7am yesterday, when it's cold and my bees are all tucked up indoors. At least the bumblebees are still making a living.
Drones, alas, are going out of fashion here as well. But there are still quite a few being hosted in the wealthier hives. And just one colony - one that needed fed last week - is even raising a few.
It seemed crazy to feed, as they've been flying avidly during the best bits of the last few days, bringing in many colours of pollen. But this thread is helping me shift to thinking that the bees can provide the protein/fat/micronutrients, & I'll add the carbs. Thanks for the heads-up on that, everyone.
Anyone got a good answer to the question most people ask when they hear you keep bees: "Do you get much honey?"
I _know_ they don't want the long answer!

[gavin]

Farmfoods seem to provide the best bargain for sugar at the moment. It has been 39p for a while and is still being sold at that price according to hotdeals.com. Tate and Lyle Cane sugar, 1kg.