Wonderful, thank you for such a detailed answer, Paul
On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 11:42, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Robin,Best wishes,
no, don't feed.
3 combs in a TBH is good progress for the small colony you populated the
hive with. (As I recall the swarm split in half, presumably having 2
queens, Gary and you ended up with half each.) Colonies regulate their
activity depending on lots of factors and a major one is their numbers.
They probably could have built more comb by now but wanted to concentrate
on consolidating what they've got; they can't raise more brood than they
have nurse bees to cover them with (to keep them warm). So they will be
raising the next generation now, which will be ready to go forage in a
couple of weeks. They will build up in stages, whereas a big prime swarm
has more options and does several things in parallel.
If you feed, you build dependency and disrupt their natural pattern of
frugality at this time of year. They have had excellent forage up to now
and it looks like the June gap is not so noticeable this year. Partly that
is because we just had some rain, partly I think there are more lime trees
and other June sources around than I used to realise so it's not like a
nectar tap has been turned off, it's just been turned down. They will tick
over until the next surge of nectar in a few weeks - by which time they
will have loads of new foragers.
The time to get worried is if you see them foraging heavily in bad
weather. That means they are low on stores.
If you feed, there are several bad things that can happen:
- You stimulate excessive laying. You are then on a treadmill because
they will have too many mouths during nectar dearths (like as winter
approaches) and their natural rhythms are disrupted.
- Lack of a natural brood break means varra can multiply unchecked.
- They can become "honey bound", filling every available cell with
syrup which they are trying to evaporate down to honey - leaving no room
for brood.
- Their honey gets diluted with sugar and loses taste!
Basically, they know exactly what they are doing. Meddling will reduce
their chance of survival. This is a pretty normal year, weather wise, and
they are adapted ideally for it. There HAVE been years when feeding might
have been appropriate but this is not one.
Paul
On Fri, 5 Jun 2020 at 11:17, Robin Colyer <robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Morning all,--
I’ve heard various mentions of the ‘June gap’ and now the weather’s also
changed I’m wondering if I should get prepared to feed for the first time?
My colony is showing all the good signs - laying queen etc - but it’s
still small, only occupying three top bars. The three combs are of a
decent size now, and getting noticeably thicker, but the colony has yet to
expand. According to my novice calculations, the first of the new
generation of bees will be emerging from their cells around now.
Thanks as always,
Robin
