Answering Mary's points first,
1) I only have one box full of bees. I gave them two feeder-fulls, 2kg of
sugar, I think. I stopped because you warned us about the cold - it was the end
of September. Then I was shocked to think I could have carried on into October
it was so mild. Have they had enough?
They're probably fine, I say that partly because they are a small colony so
need less to eat. Some people, like Peter, don't feed their bees - ever. I
monitored my bees fairly closely from September and what I found was that their
numbers seemed to peak in Sept / Oct, and they were very active and all hives
went from near-zero stores (which incentivised me to give them a few kg of
sugar syrup) to plenty of stores, s feeding them was probably unnecessary in
hindsight. They must be well adapted to local forage patterns (primarily ivy
round here).
What we are seeing is an increasing divergence between our group's practises
and conventional advice, as we gain experience and confidence (ie no major
disasters despite ignoring conventional advice). I believe this is because we
are not "forcing" the bees out of their area-adapted behaviour: we're giving
them smaller hives with thick walls; we're not stimulating their breeding
withsyrup at times when there is a nectar dearth. To put this in context: my
first bees, Buckfasts, were prolific breeders and in their first spring they
gathered loads of honey. A few weeks later during a dearth they'd eaten it all
because there was no "off" switch on the queen's laying and I needed to feed
them sugar syrup. Whereas now our swarms tend to be from local feral stock or
from other low-intervention colonies.
Could I put some food into the bottom?
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Time to remove feeders
Local Time: 3 November 2017 8:33 PM
UTC Time: 3 November 2017 20:33
From: gino@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
As a child we used to go on holiday to my parents native Sicily. In the
mountains were long disused sulphur mines, occasionally we would find lumps
of yellow rock sulphur. If you set it alight, the rock burns, melting to a
deep red/orange liquid with a flame which is only a few millimetres high,
almost clinging to the rock, and gives off a white smoke. Breathing in the
white smoke (unintentionally) gave a particularly acrid burn to the back of
the nostrils. I guess I've consumed enough sulphur dioxide for a lifetime!
My grandad told me how when the mines were in full use the mountainside would
be covered in smoke, which must have been fun for humans and animals alike!
Gino
On 3 November 2017 at 18:55, Ann Welch <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wow good to know Gino, thanks.
I believe it’s the sulphur dioxide that keeps dried apricots yellow. I was
introduced to the “brown” (unadulterated) apricots by a friend, she wouldn’t
have the “normal” kind. I don’t really know why Sulphur dioxide in Apricots
would be considered toxic (at least to humans). Sulphur dioxide SO and
water H2O turns into Sulphuric acid H2SO4 of course but I can’t imagine it
would be exactly concentrated ! I bet the bees notice it more than we would
though. Interesting.
ttfn
Ann
From: Gino Sprio
Sent: Friday, November 3, 2017 6:24 PMTo: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Time to remove feeders
Hello
La Patisserie in Kidlington 01865 372078,sell fondant in 12.5kg boxes for
about £15.
You will need to call them to order it, takes about a week.
The stuff they have ordered for me has no sulphur dioxide in it, which is
often added as a preservative.
Hope that helps
Gino
On 3 November 2017 at 14:53, Mary Baker <maryevelynbaker@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dear Paul
I would like to come to the meeting on 16th. I have some questions about
feeding, which maybe you would be able to answer at the meeting?
1) I only have one box full of bees. I gave them two feeder-fulls, 2kg of
sugar, I think. I stopped because you warned us about the cold - it was the
end of September. Then I was shocked to think I could have carried on into
October it was so mild. Have they had enough? Could I put some food into
the bottom?
2) How do you feed during the winter? I have a spare quilt box as I thought
it would help with feeding.
3) I want to mix some wool that I picked off fences and washed, with the
chippings in the quilt box, would that be all right? I feel the wool would
be warmer but I haven't enough to fill the box.
4) Can you wrap the whole hive up to keep it warm?
Thank you
Mary
On 25 Oct 2017, at 12:58, Paul Honigmann (Redacted sender "paul.honigmann"
for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Bees need a minimum ambient temperature to process nectar or syrup into
honey, and soon the weather will be too cool for them to make use of
syrup. At that point, a feeder in the top of a hive can cause problems,
depending on type.
I use top feeders in my Warres, by removing some insulation in the quilt
and placing them there. Once the bees have drunk them dry, these are
simply an empty volume in the middle of their quilt, and a chimney for
losing heat. Also some people find that once they are empty the bees begin
building comb in them. So once the bees are finished feeding for the year,
it is best to remove them and replace them with insulation again.
This doesn't really apply to other feeder types which are placed inside
the hive, so feel free to ignore this advice. Internal feeders may give
other problems, but they don't lose heat. I continue to favour the top
feeders though because (1) the bees below keep the syrup warm and (2) I
can open the hive (roof) and pour in syrup without the bees coming out to
defend against me.
Oh, and if you haven't done so yet, it is definitely time to fit mouse
guards.
Paul
