Hello there Paul and All ,
On April 24th of year 2000 , I was introduced to the art of beekeeping
by
receiving 45 bee packages from New Zealand . We took delivery of the
packages from a well known local beekeeper , Stan Sandler . Stan
suggested that we shake out the packages as soon as possible . Bearing
this in mind , this novice insisted on shaking out at once even though
it
was near midnite and we were receiving a couple of inches of new snow.

We had 45 packages which were transfered to 41 wooden and 4 polystyrene
hives . Ignorance was bliss and our efforts were rewarded .
The following days were cool , however , pollen was available from
poplar , red maple and other trees . A few days passed and we placed in
frame feeders containing syrup . At the time of shakeout we emptied the
packaged transport feed directly into the hives , a practice , I would
not do again .

We had managed to survive this ordeal and our bees came right along .
The progress made by the polystyrene colonies was , perhaps , twice that

of the wooden units , a coincidence or not , I'm not qualified to make
an assertment . The colonies were , in my mind , not up to movement to
other locations for pollination provision and were left in the perimeter
of
one of my blueberry fields . The majority of farms in my area are dairy
with very little potato acreage . The only complaint I received about my

bees foraging came from my wife who loves flower growing and has a large
rock garden . She apparently takes out her frustration by pulling weeds
from her gardens . It so happens that there are a lot of thyme plantings
which appear to be a magnet to honey bees . We have a 7 acre lawn
designed by mother nature , consisting of many weeds along with
dandelion and white clover . We do not spray our lawn for weeds as
without them , we would have no green at all . Next to weed pulling , my

wife likes to release frustration by mowing de lawn , a bonanza for
forragers including my bees .

According to others we had a poor honey flow , however , this novice was
pleased . The polystyrene hives produced twice as much as most of
the wooden hives except for a few . When taking honey from the
polystyrene hives we had difficulty handling the third and fourth full
supers and as a matter of fact , we had a fourth styrene honey super
fall apart under it's heavy load . I would recommend the polystyrene for
new packages , however , we are thinking of topping off with shallow
wooden units for honey this year . Two deep polystyrene topped with wood
.

We moved 44 hives into our blueberry scale house during the second week
of December for overwintering . The room was equipped with an exhaust
and inlet fan , in hopes of a controled environment . There was no heat
and the only protection afforded was from the wind and to a lesser
degree , humidity . Having an inquisative mind , I checked the colonies
many time over the winter months , sometimes , with other interested
parties to show off the polystyrene hives which were allways hot with
activity .

We moved the colonies outdoors to our loading ramp three weeks ago this
coming Sunday . we lost 8 colonies , 6 wooden and two polystyrene .
The wooden units all had some reserves of food and the polystyrene units

were completely devoid of any stores . I have my hunches , however , as
previously stated , I'm not qualified to make a firm decision for this
occurance . Following the initial bee flight , one would think the Red
Russian Army had dropped their drawers and relieved themselves on our
loading dock , including the persons of my brother inlaw and myself .

We placed in frame feeders in the hives which were low in stores and put

brewers yeast into feeders which we designed for feeding pollen
supplement . We used 10 gallon steel grease barrels which were cleaned
of any residue and welded a 6 inch bracket to to the bottom edge to
elevate the feeder . We removed 2/3 rds of the cover and drilled a hole
in
the bottom to remove any weather intrusion . The cover was attached to
the 10 gallon feeder and the substitute food was placed in the rearmost
of the elevated feeder which as laid down on it's side . Yesterday ,we
removed the top covers of two of the dead hives and took out the empty
frames and left the few honey filled frames spaced apart for access to
foraging bees . The invitation was immediately accepted . I'm not sure
if I did the right thing or not .

We have had a few days of 15 % celcius temperature on our sheltered
dock area and bee activity at times is intensive . The pollen feeders
are
popular and well accepted to the bees . We are about to medicate our
bees and searched for Terramycin in town , however , the only product
available at our vet clinic pharmacy was ONYCIN 62.5 - Tetracycline HCI
water soluable powder . The product , I'm told , is for chicken , turkey
,
swine , calves and sheep , however acceptible for bee treatment . 1 tsp
=
4 grams . Can I use this product or should I wait for Terramycin .

In closing , I might suggest that Polystyrene has it's uses and in my
opinion , it use can be successfuly if blended with wood .

Thats the view from P. E. I. , regards to all , Dave