At 05:03 PM 6/6/96 -0600, you wrote:
>> My mentor approved of my general "leave things alone" policy, but
>> said if I really wanted a good crop to feed some of the sugar early
>> to get the hives built up. This seemed extravagant to me, but I put
>> feeders on three hives, leaving the other three alone.
>>
>> As you may guess, the cold weather followed, and now that the
>> season's on, the three hives that I didn't feed are going great, but
>> the others have only a few bees.
>
>This makes no sense to me and there must be more to this than meets
>the eye.
>
>Feeding sugar syrup correctly in the early part of the build up
>period should not be particularly harmful, and should be beneficial
>-- cold weather or not. Maybe there was too much moisture in the
>syrup?
>
>Correct ratios, good water, proper feeders, etc. are necessary, but I
>just can't imagine what happened here.
>
>I wonder what it was about these three hives that singled them out
>for feeding?
>
>Whatever it was, is it the reason for their poor performance?
>
>Regards
>
>Allen
>
>W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper
Perhaps it could be due to pollen deficiency. Hives fed syrup tend to lay
up all over the place - requiring lots of brood to be fed - requiring
sufficient supplies of pollen. If this pollen is not forthcoming the
remaining nurse bees mine their own bodies for protein to feed the brood
(and subsequently reduce their own longevity). If good pollen supplies fail
to eventuate, (perhaps in this case due to the poor weather) there can be an
eventual collapse of the hive population. Nosema can also have an integral
part to play in this scenario. The damage to the bee's gut from Nosema
reduces the benefit of what little pollen remains and exacerbates the
situation. Those hives not fed syrup and thereby stimulated beyond the
availabilty of pollen supplies would have fared better and in some cases
significantly so.
One tip with pollen - bees collect most pollen best in the morning and bees
feed brood most at night. To check if your hives have surplus pollen, check
them early in the morning. Any surplus pollen collected in the previous
day(s) can be differentiated from the long term stored pollen in the hive by
its fluffy appearance. If there is no fluffy pollen in the morning the hive
is currently on a net deficit pollen flow. Unless there is a large amount
of stored pollen in the hive, or the available sources improve, there will
be a problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Bray, Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand
Fax 64-3-324-3236, Phone 64-3-324-3569 [log in to unmask]
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
