Author Topic: Bees and Beekeeping  (Read 135374 times)

Mr Smith

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #100 on: December 30, 2010, 19:52:37 »
I've just found a good site for my area 'Leicestershire & Rutland' bee keepers, I'm very interested in the subject although 'I know nothing'  they do training courses for beginners which I hope to get on in the future, looking at the down side of bee keeping have any of you encountered any of the problems with keeping bees?,  I'm a bit concerned because I want to keep my bees in the back garden but have neighbours all around and would not like them to swarm, :)

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #101 on: December 30, 2010, 21:28:35 »
if you keep good-natured bees, there should be no problems with a couple of hives in the back garden. BUT, even good-natured bees can become anti-social, so make sure you have another site to move them to (at little or notice time) should they become 'feisty'

regular (weekly) inspections between April and September should lessen the likelihood of swarms.

by the way, you'll need loads of spare equipment for 'artificial swarms / splits/ housing swarms'

definitely join local association, get to know a local beekeeper, have a 'play' with some bees and various hive types if possible, before committing to getting any of your own.

rgds, Tony. (Norfolk Beekeeper)
You couldn't make it up!

Mr Smith

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #102 on: December 30, 2010, 21:57:53 »
if you keep good-natured bees, there should be no problems with a couple of hives in the back garden. BUT, even good-natured bees can become anti-social, so make sure you have another site to move them to (at little or notice time) should they become 'feisty'

regular (weekly) inspections between April and September should lessen the likelihood of swarms.

by the way, you'll need loads of spare equipment for 'artificial swarms / splits/ housing swarms'

definitely join local association, get to know a local beekeeper, have a 'play' with some bees and various hive types if possible, before committing to getting any of your own.

rgds, Tony. (Norfolk Beekeeper)
Tony,  Good advice  before I make a commitment I will certainly look in to the pros and cons, far more to it than I thought, :)

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #103 on: December 30, 2010, 22:34:39 »
You couldn't make it up!

Melbourne12

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #104 on: December 31, 2010, 11:13:16 »
Our bees are all OK - thank goodness!

Yesterday was the first really mild day for ages (9 or 10C), so we went to check on our four colonies.  The first pair of hives had little piles of dead bees outside, so we took the roof off the first with some trepidation.  No, they were fine, and had consumed much of the fondant that we'd left for them before Christmas.  So we replaced the fondant, and went to the second hive.  To our dismay, the fondant wasn't touched, but it was clear that they were fine and living on their stores.

Same with the second pair of hives, on another site.

So it looks as though the cold weather has killed a few (as you'd expect at this time of year), but the milder weather has enabled the colonies to do some housekeeping, and eject the corpses from the hive.

We came away much relieved!

Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #105 on: December 31, 2010, 12:25:53 »
If you've got a recent pile of dead bees outside it's a sign that all's well, as they've had the strength to throw them out! Bees always die over winter, so it's nothing to worry about. I knew mine were going to be OK when I saw a scatter of bee parts lying on the snow.

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #106 on: December 31, 2010, 18:13:02 »
why do so many beekeepers give their bees fondant?
is it a sign of bad beekeeping (bees ain't got enough stores to survive through the winter)?
or is it a sign that the brood box ain't big enough for the bees they are keeping?

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goodlife

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #107 on: December 31, 2010, 18:43:18 »
I give fondant for my bees as I find it much easier than providing sugar syryp in autumn....for start with, fondant doesnt go off/ferment like syryp..you can see how much is eaten without needing to disturb the colony, with syryp is it guessing game...fondant saves some time and work too...so many good things...oh and you don't need feeders..just hole in fondant bag and 'splap' it on crownboard.
I don't think it is sign of bad beekeeping at all, quite opposite..our autumns haven't been that good for forage..so bees haven't been able to make enough honey for broodbox or it is not ripened enough...so fondant on top is just like insurance policy..it is there if they should need it.
You really need to have exceptionally large brood if box full of honey should run out this time of the year..but even then we are not always even able to get to our colonies to check in time if they should need more 'grub'.
 

Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #108 on: December 31, 2010, 19:09:41 »
A split or a swarm will always need feeding; research in an area of the States with a similar climate to ours showed that swams only had a 25% chance of making it through theri first winter, and you want to give them better odds than that!

When it comes to established colonies, I've got mixed feelings. Our native bees survived here for several thousand years without artificial feeding, so I always feel it shouldn't be necessary, except perhaps occasionally, at the end of a spectacularly awful summer. Since the 1920's, Britain has been deluged with imports of queens, mostly from southern Europe. The result is that there are a lot of bees around that probably couldn't survive without beekeeper assistance. In the 1940's or 50's - I don't have the dates - someone set up colonies of both native and Italian strains, and left them completely alone. After three years, the Italian bees were all dead, while the native colonies were flourishing. I periodically come across colonies that winter with massive clusters which fill much of a broodbox, and I can't imagine them being viable in a series of bad summers. That being said, I don't let them starve. I just requeen them.

I'm not sure about using fondant; it's placed above the broodbox, and in the sort of extremely cold weather we've had in the last couple of winters, this could be enough to cause isolation starvation. I'm by no means convinced that this is as common as people think - I've had colonies dies out showing classic signs of starvation, in contact with stores, in mild weather at the end of winter. But it does happen occasionally that a colony can't move across to food in very cold weather. If I feed syrup, they put it where they want, and I can't help feeling that gives them a better chance.

Melbourne12

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #109 on: January 01, 2011, 12:21:04 »
We fed syrup in the autumn, and all four colonies were heavy enough to suggest that they'd enough stores to overwinter successfully.  Only one of the four has actually used the fondant, and we haven't tried to open up the box to find out why.  Maybe their stores have crystallised, if it was mainly ivy honey.

This is the end of our second season of beekeeping, so we're by no means expert.  We provided fondant last year, and will continue to do so this year, if for no other reason than our own peace of mind.

Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #110 on: January 01, 2011, 15:07:43 »
I don't believe that bees can't winter on crystallised ivy. It's a major late honey source - probably more major in the days when Britain was forested - and bees have subsisted on it for millennia. We live in a damp climate, water condenses inside, and that provides a source of moisture for liquidising it.

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #111 on: January 02, 2011, 15:09:08 »
I don't believe that bees can't winter on crystallised ivy. It's a major late honey source - probably more major in the days when Britain was forested - and bees have subsisted on it for millennia. We live in a damp climate, water condenses inside, and that provides a source of moisture for liquidising it.

I agree Robert !!

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goodlife

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #112 on: January 02, 2011, 16:44:58 »
Yes I agree too....but....now that many of us use mesh floors..condenced water  inside of the hive is not there anymore..or is less..and to liquify hard chrystalized honey more water is needed..
Perhaps 'modern tecnology' haven't done us favours in that way ::)

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #113 on: January 02, 2011, 17:47:14 »
my hives have solid floors, no insulation, bees seem to cope well.
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Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #114 on: January 02, 2011, 17:52:21 »
I put mine on mesh floors years ago, and found that chalkbrood - a very minor problem with that strain - vanished entirely, as did mould on combs. I've been a fan ever since.

Bees used to be found characteristically in hollow trees, surrounded by rotten wood which would soak up condensation, and they survived. Maybe the water they produce metabolically gives them enough to cope with ivy. Whatever, I don't believe they couldn't manage! Maybe southern European strains would have more problems, I don't know.
« Last Edit: January 02, 2011, 17:54:29 by Robert_Brenchley »

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #115 on: January 02, 2011, 17:54:57 »
but I'm a lot further 'darn sarf', Robert.
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Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #116 on: January 02, 2011, 18:49:31 »
I'm not sure where Gorleston is, but I bet you get lots of ivy, and the odd hard winter! It's often our damp summers which make life hard for bees, when they can't build up stores. Ivy might often be all they have.

tonybloke

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You couldn't make it up!

Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #118 on: January 02, 2011, 19:37:47 »
You're no further south than I am!

tonybloke

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Re: Bees and Beekeeping
« Reply #119 on: January 02, 2011, 19:44:35 »
You're no further south than I am!

true, but being a lot further east we get a lot less rainfall, and the proximity of the sea has a 'calming' influence on local climate.

You couldn't make it up!

 

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