Yet another puzzle

[GRIZZLY]

[QUOTE=Eric McArthur;2221]Hi Grizzly, Jon and Lindsay

Grizzly - Why the tablets? Discussing beekeeping topics is food for the soul - especially when heated! Excuse the pun - again! Regarding your underpants regime - good housekeeping practice! Keep it up or them!
As I said Eric I'm in the throes of a bout of flu with sore muscles,a splitting head and high temperature.My doctor reccomends paracetamol or perhaps YOU know better and can offer a "McArthur remedy.

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Gavin

I can live with that!

Eric

[gavin]

Hi Eric

Excellent! Let's get back to bees then ... or have a rest. Now that the football has finished I'm hoping to finish some stuff for the SBA Executive meeting on Saturday before I turn in tonight.

G.

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Grizzly

Funny you should ask! If it were a hangover I know a marvellous cure! I hope your 'flu clears up quickly. Grim disease!
Again funnily enough I'll be in Port Partick this weekend! I could drop you off a McArthur's Hangover Cure - no charge! Normal charge for New Year use i- £5.00 per potion!
Eric

[Eric McArthur]

I agree it's time to restart this thread.

Hi Lindsay

Over to you then!

Eric

[GRIZZLY]

Hi Eric ,I could meet you in "The Port" over the weekend for that remedy if you like.Home is only 4 miles away.Let me know eh!

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Lindsay

Perhps this may give you a starter for 10!

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If anyone is interested: My colony losses over the winter/spring of 2009/10 were unacceptably high compared with previous years. These losses were incurred over 4 apiaries quite distant from each other.
There were of course common factors in all sites:
1 All colonies were subject to the less than optimum autumn of 2009
2 All colonies were headed by 2009 queens
3 All apiaries were located in areas where the bees had easy access to abundant stands of H. balsam in late summer early autumn.
4 .All colonies are located in sites at relatively moderate heights above sea level, in the West Central belt
5 All sites experienced the hard winter of 2009/10
6 All sites are generally South facing.
7 All colonies were housed in either Smith of National hives
8 All colonies were supplied with at least 6 bags of solidly granulated cane sugar or as needed up until late December.
9 All colonies, winter and summer, have full width 7.93mm high entrances.
10 All colonies over-wintered with an empty super to house the sugar; the super was topped with solid plywood crown board. No blankets, sheets, pillow cases or Uncle Bob’s waistcoat or packing of any kind was used.
11 All colonies were stood on a three brick; (two front, one rear) stand having a 4 inch air space between ground and underside of the floor board
12 All colonies were stood primarily on grass rather than slabs
13 Apart from one hive in five being fitted with a Varroa floor all the colonies were on solid floors
14 All colonies are treated 3 times with 60% formic acid: viz mid April, Mid June and late October and have been for a number of years with no adverse effects.

Co-incident with my first ‘fly-in’ encounter with Varroa in 2003, the heather beetle killed all the heather in my area.
Up until that time every year from around the mid 70s the bees over-wintered on heather honey augmented by 6 – 8 sugar bags fed at the start of September with no trouble (less than 5% losses!). No sugar syrup was fed from the earl 70s – this ’low labour’ intensive regime gave excellent results up until the demise of the heather.
The bees remained on the late summer sites after 2003 due to the demise of the heather. It was only then that I discovered what an excellent source of honey the balsam. However from that time on – still only using sugar bags I started to lose colonies at a higher level than before. Apart from the loss of the heather and the advent of the bees over-wintering on balsam nothing changed – until the dramatic weather pattern of 2009/10 when the winter came too early (mid November), stayed too long (until late February) and was extremely severe for prolonged periods of time! In previous years the bees could be seen foraging until late December during which time the were working steadily on the crystal sugar rendering it to sugar honey. The early onset of winter denied them almost 6 weeks access to the sugar bags.
These then are the simple facts of the case and I feel I know the answers to my ‘colony demise’ catastrophe. Any independent answers out there?
Unfortunately I go on holiday tomorrow – but feel free!

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Grizzly
How would I know you! I would like to meet but my wife who loves me very much is very demanding of our holiday time together. Your phone number would be good! Email me at: eric@apisscot.plus.com and we’ll see how things pan out – perhaps you should be in bed nursing that flu!!

Eric

[Eric McArthur]

Hi Gavin

I noted the promotion - guess we are all just Indians now - but equal in the eyes of God!

Eric

[gavin]

Just some advance warning - if anyone wants to chip in on colony losses I'll probably move Eric's post and any replies to join the previous discussion on the topic. Like to keep things tidy. Also I'll try to sort the repeated blocks in Eric's posts if I can find some time tonight.